


Domino

by aForgottenWeasley



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Gender Changes, Awkward Derek, F/M, Fem!Stiles - Freeform, Girl!Stiles, Humor, Romance, female!stiles
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-08-05
Updated: 2013-08-14
Packaged: 2017-12-22 13:15:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 23,858
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/913621
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aForgottenWeasley/pseuds/aForgottenWeasley
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Stiles comes home from summer vacation- she comes home to her Pack where her alpha didn't even know that Stiles was a she. Derek is suddenly one awkward being and he can't stop staring or thinking about his certain pack mate.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Since Stiles is a girl, Derek is going to be an awkward turtle after he figures it out. Also, you should be able to see the way Stiles' hair looks [HERE](http://i41.tinypic.com/muhr3b.jpg). Check it out in case you can't picture it because I'm shit at describing most things.
> 
> I totally blame Domino by Jessie J for this creation. This made me think of Stiles going away and then coming back all made-over and the most feminine any of them have ever seen and totally owning her femininity.
> 
> JSYK, I changed the timeline. The Kanima fiasco happens during their Junior Year so everyone is seventeen, going on eighteen. After the Kanima fiasco there was NO alpha pack threat, Jackson still left, and Erica and Boyd came back. Everything is just peachy in Beacon Hills.
> 
> So yeah, here's how this is going to go. This first chapter is going to take place all in one day, except the beginning part where it's catching you up on why Stiles is leaving. Then the following chapters are each going to be a different month so there will be time jumping after this chapter. I hope it's not confusing. If it is, feel free to message me.

Stiles was coming home.

For three long months, the streets of Beacon Hills were void of a blue spluttering jeep that everyone had quickly learned to associate with one Stiles Stilinski.

It had happened the night that Jackson went from slithering paralyzing Kanima to full-blown, naked as the day he was born, bitten beta werewolf. Lydia had very openly and publicly professed her love to Jackson, which  _ouch!_ by the way, but it was what was to be expected when one girl crushes on a straight girl. Stiles had driven her not-so-mangled jeep home, threw it in park, and trudged her way into her home and up to her room. Though she knew she would never actually have a chance with Lydia, the obvious rejection still stung. Without bothering to change into her normal sleep-wear, Stiles succumbed to sleep with tears leaking from behind closed eyelids and thoughts drifting towards one dark and broody alpha werewolf but yeah.. who was she kidding. Derek Hale would never look at her that way. It was the Lydia scenario all over again.

She had woken up the following morning with dried snot, puffy red-rimmed eyes, and a swollen bruised cheek. Her dad was still under the impression that she'd been roughed up by the opposing losing Lacrosse team and she hadn't even bothered to tell Scott that his girlfriend- exgirlfriend's family- had kidnapped her and beat her. The Sheriff had sat her down with a plate of jelly covered toast and orange juice, and told her that he was sending away for the Summer.

Stiles had spluttered into her juice, choking for a good three minutes before clearing her airway. John made her calm down before explaining that her Mom's family was going to be backpacking across Europe and one of her cousins had asked for her. With the recent attack on his daughter, John gave the okay for his daughter to tag along since all expenses were going to be paid anyway. When Stiles let it all sink in, she caved. Derek was going to have his betas on a tight leash so that meant no Erica, Boyd, or Isaac and Scott was going to have Allison related problems that didn't involve her.

She had three days to pack up her clothes before her family came to pick her up and three days to inform Scott that she'd be gone for the Summer. Scott took the news as expected, whining that he needed his best friend there to help him with his break-up but when Stiles suggested he actually give Allison some space and focus on himself, he took it into consideration. With Scott knowing about her departure, Isaac found out within hours which is how Erica found out. The blonde she-wolf was bummed but wished her some fun especially after the fiasco they had all been through. Boyd and Isaac had just clapped her on the back with small grins while Derek lacked any type of emotion- wishing her a good trip and to come back in one piece.

The day she left for the airport with her cousins fussing over her cheek, she got a text from Lydia containing her email address and demanding that she be filled in every week of her trip.

But now, now after three months, Stiles was coming home.

Since the Sheriff was working, the same for Mama McCall, Scott persuaded Derek to drive him to bus depot where Stiles would be coming in soon. Lydia found out from Stiles that Scott and Derek were picking her up so Lydia followed them in her car to check out the supposed surprise that Stiles kept telling her she would love.

When Lydia had pulled up behind Derek's Camaro, Scott frowned when Lydia met him between their two cars. While she explained that she and Stiles kept in contact through email, Derek had left for one of the vending machines to get something to snack on while they waited. There was a bit of a line but he didn't mind waiting as long as he didn't have to hear Scott whine about why Stiles and Lydia kept in touch and not he and Stiles. By the time it's his turn to purchase whatever snack he's getting, the engine from a bus and the air brakes sound behind him. He took his time choosing a candy bar that he didn't even care for before moving towards one of the drink machines and purchased everyone a water. He didn't need Lydia lecturing him again that there were too many calories in one can of soda.

It's when he's picking up the last bottle of water from where it's fallen after his purchase that he hears it. Lydia's squeal pierces the air around him and since he considers her Pack- she took Stiles' place as researcher when Stiles was away- his head snaps in her direction, a growl threatening to escape his throat. There's another person standing with Scott and Lydia now, one that Scott is grinning goofily at and that Lydia is circling like a prey with a manic grin on her face.

Derek quickly make sure he has a hold on the four bottles of water before stomping over back towards his pack. The stranger, he quickly makes a judgment that it's a girl based on how small her yellow and white plaid shorts are, is standing with her back to him. A thin black hoodie hugs her upper body, the hood loosely sitting over her head which he doesn't understand how she's wearing seeing as it's warm out, as she swings her arms out and lets Lydia appraise her. Scott is still grinning goofily and Derek prays that this isn't going to be another "Allison" thing for him. As he gets nearer, he takes a moment to really look at what Scott is seeing. Though the girl's back is still to him, Derek can easily tell she's taller and more slender than Lydia is. Her shorts stop two inches below the curve of her ass and pale yet tone legs follow after that.

Derek isn't really paying attention to what's being said but he manages to avert his eyes from the nice looking legs when Scott and Lydia look up at him. He catches Stiles' faint scent, wondering when the hell he's going to show up, only to stumble a step or two when the girl turns around.

"Hey, Sourwolf. I was wondering where you disappeared to." She says and pulls down her hood.

Derek barely manages to hold onto the water bottles in his hands as his mind quickly processes what and who he's staring at. It's Stiles, alright, but Stiles like he'd never seen. Stiles has legs.. and breasts that are pressed together.. and a skin tight black tank top showing off said breasts. His-  _her-_ hair has grown out a lot from it's usual buzz-cut, and it's now pixie-like and messy as if she just rolled out of bed with a bit of light brown almost blonde highlights.

He will forever swear that his eyes didn't go wide and will forever forget that he ever saw Lydia smirking at his reaction. "I think you broke our Alpha." Scott steps forward, mumbling as he cocked his head to the side like a curious puppy.

Before anything else can be said, the bottles finally fall from Derek's grasp as he lunges forward and grips the back of Stiles' neck, pulling him-  _her-_ towards the Camaro. Once they're out of earshot from everyone else, Derek releases Stiles and rounds on him- er, her. "What did you do?! Who did you piss off?"

"What?" Stiles splutters.

Scott and Lydia are there in the next instant, Lydia biting her bottom lip to keep from laughing as Scott's eyes fall from Stiles' face to her chest, his face and neck going red. "Was it a witch? How long is this going to last?"

"Dude." Scott hisses, his gaze not meeting anyone. "Your boobs are, like.. out. Cover up!"

Derek is torn between wrangling Scott's neck for getting flustered over a pair of breasts, breasts that seemed like could fit in the palm of one's hand, and staring at the pair of said breasts that are in fact on display now. Well, at least the cleavage is on display. Probably from where he dragged Stiles and Stiles flailed which resulted in the tank top moving around.

"Oh, big whoop." Stiles rolls her eyes but readjusts her tank top before stripping out of the thin hoodie and throwing it at Scott's face. "It's not like you haven't seen them before. I walk around in sports bras in the locker room all the time. It's the same thing."

This time, it's Derek who splutters. "W-what?!"

Scott and Derek are looking like Derek grew a second head when Lydia finally releases her laughter. "You didn't know, did you? You thought Stiles was a guy!"

"Of course he's a guy." Derek recovers some, his gaze drifting from Stiles and back to Lydia. "He was in love with you for crying out loud! And he's on the boy's Lacrosse team."

Stiles looks highly offended as she scoffs, hands falling to her hips as she narrows her gaze on Derek and Scott makes a be-line for her forgotten suitcases by the bus. "How did you not know I was a girl?!" She whisper-shouts. "I have breasts, for crying out loud! Not big, I might add, but they're still breasts!" She can see the tips of Derek's ears tint pink but she doesn't call him out on it. "And what about your nose?! Couldn't you sniff out, you know.." And this time it's Stiles who flushes in embarrassment. "-that little thing called menstruation!" Derek catches the whine in the back of this throat before it has a chance to escape. "And Lydia was just a phase." She shrugs. "It's perfectly fine for one girl to like another girl. Totally over it. Catch up with the times, Sourwolf."

And yep, this is definitely Stiles. Stiles who is a girl. Who has always been a girl. And just like that, an seemingly old memory clicks into place in the back of Derek's mind. This is why Lydia, Scott, and Isaac were  _livid_  when Stiles, Erica, and Boyd finally came clean about Gerard's kidnapping and beat down. Not only had Gerard laid a hand on one of their own but he laid a hand on a female. Something that no matter that majority of them were werewolves, it was a major no-no. Especially towards a human female.

Nothing else is said as Stiles keeps her narrowed gaze on Derek while Lydia continues to cackle right beside them. Scott makes it back to them, face flushed though no-one knows whether it's from carrying all five suitcases of Stiles' belongings or from catching Stiles' rant that included the scary female thing.

"Come on." Lydia chuckles, hooking her arm through one of Stiles'. "You're riding with me and the boys are taking your stuff back to Derek's loft."

They turn, Stiles not putting up a fight and Derek's gaze unconsciously falls to Stiles' legs. He hears a throat clear, looking to his right where Scott's now glaring at him and Derek feels his ears burn in embarrassment at being caught staring. The last thing he hears before Lydia and Stiles are in the safety of Lydia's car is Lydia giggling, "Erica is going to have a ball with this."

Once they're parked and getting off at Derek's loft, Stiles asks if she can leave three of her suitcases there at his place. When all Derek does is quirk an eyebrow at her, she explains that she wants to ease her Dad into her makeover and some of the outfits her cousins got her would give him a heart attack. He gives her a shrug of indifference before Scott easily picks out two suitcases that Stiles points out which happen to be the two biggest ones, and then Stiles is picking up one of the smaller ones.

The elevator ride is a shaky one and Stiles internally freaks that they're going to plummet to their death but she doesn't say anything the entire ride up. Of course, though, Derek and Scott heard her heart hammering the entire time if Scott's grin and the roll of Derek's eyes is anything to go by.

Derek is then sliding the door open to his loft, forgoing any conversation with his pack as he heads straight for the kitchen area in search of a beer. He deserves one after the major discovery he just had.

Stiles barely has enough time to set down her suitcase before Erica suddenly appears, tackling her onto the floor in front of the sofa only to be followed by Isaac. Scott smiles down at what Stiles laughs is a puppy-pile and Boyd enters the room with his hands tucked in his pockets as he watches his girlfriend and fellow pack-mate scent mark Stiles and fawn over the new look.

"Your hair!" Erica squeals. "It's so cute! This cut suits you so much better."

"Watch it, Lahey! That's my ass you're molesting."

"Sorry."

"Seriously?" Lydia pouts. "I figured with the new makeover you'd act differently now."

"No can do, Sweetcheeks." Stiles calls from her place on the floor. "Just because my lady bits are on display doesn't mean I'm going to act more lady-like."

"And what lovely bits they are." Peter leers from his spot where he's perched on a spiral staircase.

Boyd, Scott, and Isaac all grimace at Peter's remark; Stiles grunting in response as she rips off one of her black converse shoes and chucks it at him. "Derek! Peter's being a pedo."

"Stop being creepy." Derek grunts as he enters the living room, beer grasped in one hand. "And stop staring."

"Please." Lydia scoffs. "Like you were any better."

"What?" Erica grins. Derek glares at Lydia, daring her to say anything else and she gleefully takes the challenge.

"You should've seen him." Lydia spills, her joyful gaze locked on with Derek. "He couldn't stop staring.. and that's because he didn't know Stiles was a girl. He thought Stiles was a guy this entire time."

And cue Erica's cackling.

Scott is shaking with silent laughter, Isaac is snorting in a fit of laughter beneath Stiles, Stiles is glaring at all of her friends, and just when Derek thinks he has at least one good beta on his side- he finds Boyd smirking and shaking his head at him in amusement.

"I had my reasons." Derek grumbled. "Besides, the baggy clothes hid everything and her hair was a buzzcut."

"A haircut that you can thank Jackson for, by the way." Stiles threw in. "Instead of pulling pigtails, he went straight for the gum in the hair. My mom had to practically shave my head and then I got used to it and yeah.. it stuck. Sue me."

"Cute clothes definitely didn't change her." Erica ruffled Stiles' hair with a grin. "But I still love it. I still love you." She cooed and pinched Stiles' cheek.

"Quit that!" Stiles slapped her hand away with a grin.

The rowdy group finally calms down; Stiles, Erica, and Isaac sitting up. Erica plopped herself into Boyd's lap in the sofa chair he's sitting in while Stiles crawls over to sit on the ground with her back against one of Boyd's legs. Isaac crawls after her, laying down with his head on one of her legs while Derek walks over to the sofa and takes a seat, Scott not far behind him. They settle into a brief silence while Isaac, Boyd, and Erica subtly touch Stiles to get the Pack scent back on her skin.

Peter casually stays perched on the staircase and Lydia suddenly eyes Stiles' suitcases that had been abandoned. " _So_.." Lydia drawls. "-what clothes do you have in those suitcases that you don't want your dad to see?"

Erica freezes from running her fingers through Stiles' hair as everyone follows Lydia's pointed finger towards the suitcases. Stiles flushes which causes her moles to stick out even more and her heartbeat picks up a bit of speed. Now the wolves are intrigued. "Oh, uh, clothes." She squeaks. "Short stuff, see-through stuff, clubbing stuff.."

"You went clubbing?!" Scott whines. "Without me?" He playfully pouts.

Stiles is momentarily distracted by Scott's puppy eyes that she doesn't feel Erica shift behind her or see when the blonde she-wolf creeps her way to the suitcases. "It was Europe." Stiles shrugged. "There are a lot of clubs and one of my aunts is still in her rebellious stage. You have her and my cousins to thank for all the slutty clothing."

"Like this?" Erica giggles. Stiles peered over her shoulder, blanching at what Erica was holding up. "Since when do you own so much black?"

Stiles jumped to her feet, launching herself towards a smirking Erica and barely hearing Scott's question of, "What is that?"

To Scott, Derek, Isaac, Boyd, and Peter- it's what looks like used to be a dress. Erica is holding it up by the shoulder straps, the spandex-like material dangling from her fingers. There's a piece of low-cut fabric that looks like it'd cover the breast area, followed by four cutouts- two on each side of the torso- which creates a cross of material down the torso, and ends with a very small skirt with slits on each thigh. The dress leaves nothing to the imagination.

Stiles snatches the dress from Erica's clutches, balling it up and shoving it back in the suitcase before closing it, and sitting atop the entire case. "I wore that once.. and we are to never speak of what you just saw ever again."

"You're leaving those here, remember?" Derek grunts. "Erica will have ripped through all your stuff the second you leave here."

Erica grins wolfishly while Stiles takes a moment to let Derek's words sink in. Turning back to Erica, she narrows her eyes. "You can borrow some of these clothes as long as you don't tell anyone where you got it from. Or that it's mine."

"Deal."

Stiles has only a second to breath a sigh of relief before Lydia's amusement makes Stiles wish that a hole would open up and swallow her whole. "Do these say  _Lick Me_?" Everyone pretends they didn't hear Derek splutter on his beer.

They all turn to Lydia who's holding up a pair of black boyshort panties as Stiles flails off her suitcase and launches at Lydia. "Not my fault!" She squeaks. "My aunt is more pervy than I am!"

Erica followed after Stiles, diving into the suitcase of what appeared to be lingerie and pulled out a pair of deep red boyshorts. "These say  _Bite Me_!"

"You guys are horrible." Stiles groans as she attempts to slap their hands away and hide her clothing.

"Oohhh." Peter grins. "I like those."

Derek glares at his Uncle and smirks the moment he sees Stiles' second shoe fly and barely miss Peter's head. "That's it!" She protested. "Someone lend me their shirt. I feel too exposed with you all already and Peter is just making it worse." Peter chuckles from his spot as the rest of the boys all finger the hem of their shirts, no-one willing to give theirs up. "Isaac?" Stiles tries. "Lydia told me you lived here. Can't I just borrow a shirt?"

"Sorry." He sheepishly frowns. "All dirty."

Stiles shoulders slump in defeat and Derek easily caves. "Isaac, go get a shirt from my room."

Isaac nods his affirmative and slinks off to go get Stiles a shirt as said girl brightens right up and flashes Derek a beaming smile. If anyone sees the way Derek's ears tint red or the fact that his heart actually skips a fucking beat, no-one comments on it. Peter rolls his eyes at their display though, mumbling about sexual tension before making up an excuse about going back to his own home. No-one fights for him to stay.

Isaac quickly reappears with a black long-sleeved henley that Stiles quickly slips over her head. The sleeves fall past her fingers but after a quick tug on each sleeve, she has her hands free. The bottom of the shirt easily settles at mid-thigh as Derek's mouth goes dry at the sight of Stiles in his shirt- the shirt giving off the illusion that she's wearing no shorts- and ankle socks.

Scott suddenly suggests a movie marathon, everyone easily agreeing as Isaac rushes off to go get a mattress to set on the floor for more sitting or laying down space. Boyd pulls out his phone and starts placing an order for a large number of pizzas and Lydia settles herself between Scott and Derek on the sofa. Erica plops herself back in Boyd's lap while Isaac and Stiles stare each other down before they both throw themselves down on the mattress.

There's a bunch of laughter as Stiles tells some of her stories from Europe and how her cousins and aunt threw out all her clothes before purchasing her a new wardrobe. She had been forced into her new clothing since she had nothing else to wear and was given short wigs for when they went clubbing. There was a bunch of slinky clothing, colored wigs, and glitter- and Isaac demanded pics or that it didn't happen.

Stiles promised that pictures were coming soon just as a buzzer sounded off in the loft and Boyd left to go get their food from the delivery guy. Stiles had persuaded everyone to vote for Harry Potter and she got her way when Scott slipped in the Deathly Hallows. They crowded together in front of the TV; Boyd in his chair while Scott, Lydia, and Derek took up the sofa. Erica, Isaac, and Stiles sat on the mattress, their backs pressed against one of their packmate's legs and watched on in silence as they ate. They ended up getting through part one and two of the Deathly Hallows before Stiles' dad called and wanted her home.

Erica was curled up in Boyd's lap fast asleep, Isaac fell asleep on the floor, and Lydia was cleaning up. Derek volunteered to drive her home since her suitcases were still in his car and Scott bummed a ride home from him too. Since Scott's home was closer, the wolf got dropped off first which left Stiles climbing into the front seat after her friend's departure.

The ride home to the Stilinski household was quiet but it was oddly comfortable. It wasn't until Derek was parking next to the curb in front of Stiles' home that he made any sort of noise. Stiles had leaned forward in her seat, grabbing the hem of the henley and lifting it up and over her head. Derek had completely forgotten about the shorts and tank top underneath so when he saw all the pale flesh again, he squeaked in a very manly manner.

She grabbed her thin black jacket from the floor of Derek's car where Scott had seemingly thrown it after she hit him in the face with it and slipped on. "Thanks for the ride, Derek. See you later."

The alpha had no time to respond before Stiles was out, pushing the seat forward and yanking out her two suitcases that were in the backseat.

Derek most definitely does not stare as Stiles walks away from his car nor does his gaze fall to her ass as she climbs the steps to the porch.

The moment Stiles disappears into her house, Derek slams his own head against the steering wheel of his car.

He's totally fucked.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know I said to wait until Monday for a update but I couldn't wait. I didn't expect this to get the response it did so THANK YOU :) Also, I'm pretty disappointed with the length of this but worry not, I'll make up for it with the remaining three chapters. Enjoy!

The first week back to school and Stiles is ready to call it quits. She had never really been popular at school before sans the day she went against school officials and petitioned to be on the boy's Lacrosse team. That had gotten her some popularity but the moment everyone found out how badly she sucked at the sport, everyone went back to not caring. But now, now everyone is staring and smiling and appreciating, and it's kind of freaking her out if she's being honest with herself. She had always dreamed of being popular but if being popular means being stared at like she's a piece of meat, well then she'd rather go back to being unpopular.

The first day she had showed up in a pair of her plaid shorts and a green short-sleeved v-neck, she got so many appreciative stares that she stuck like glue to Scott's side. Well, at least she stuck like glue to Scott's side until Allison gave her the stink-eye. And then Lydia had to explain that it was  _Stiles_ and Allison apologized before slinking away and pretending that there was nothing left between her and Scott so she doesn't know why she acted like that.

The second day consisted of Stiles trying to find someone to cling to when Allison gave up all pretenses of ignoring Scott and started talking to him again after profusely apologizing for her actions during Jackson's kanima phase. Stiles had tried to use Lydia's aggressive personality to keep people away but it didn't quite work when Lydia tried to pimp her out to some fellow senior boys that were interested in Stiles now.

On the third day, Stiles attempted to fly solo. She easily avoided the slip of hands by grabby boys- and even some girls- but by lunch time, Erica was cackling at Stiles' attempts to avoid everyone. Every guy that stepped up to Stiles quickly got a hand in the face and a  _"Not interested!"_.

The fourth day had Stiles waiting in her jeep until she saw Derek's brand new SUV- she was seriously going to have to ask what the hell happened to his Camaro- pulled up. Isaac had barely planted his feet on the pavement of the parking lot before Stiles slipped her arm around his waist which earned her a quirk of eyebrows from Derek.  _"You are my pretend boyfriend for the time being until people stop trying to feel me up."_  Derek had growled at the thought of people feeling Stiles up against her will and demanded that Isaac help out as much as he could. Isaac had no problem, feeling protective of his fellow pack-mate and easily slid into the role of her pretend boyfriend.

Stiles had no problems for a while.

Derek was just only starting to search his kitchen for something to eat when he heard the familiar wheezing of Stiles. Since he was an alpha, his hearing was more advanced than any of his betas so when Stiles started wheezing halfway up his building, he was wondering why in the hell didn't she take the elevator. His loft was practically at the top of a skyscraper so her using the stairs was an idiotic thing to do.

His sense of smell also picked up Isaac and the faint sound of his beta chuckling before making an  _oomph!_ sound and Stiles demanding that she be carried the rest of the way. Derek paused in the kitchen, waiting to hear what Isaac was going to do before he heard the cheer of Stiles' triumph. How she got his wolves to do whatever she wanted, he'd never know.

It was Sunday afternoon which meant that Isaac was just getting back from some sort of practice that his Coach had organized.

" _Hiya! Giddy up!"_

" _I swear, Stiles, kick me one more time and I'll drop you!"_

" _You wouldn't dare! You wouldn't let the fragile human roll down the stairs."_

" _I would for the sake of entertainment."_

" _You're one cruel pup, Lahey. Now carry me before I scream for Derek."_

Derek snorted at their banter but leaned against the kitchen counter nonetheless, crossing his arms over his chest to hear the rest.

" _What the hell, Stiles?! Watch where you kick me! I don't know why we didn't take the elevator."_

" _Because it's a death trap!"_ Stiles exclaims.  _"Come on, Isaac, buck up! You have the strength of multiple men. This should be a piece of cake for you."_

Isaac groans but Derek can hear his pup picking up speed and running the rest of the way up. Seconds later, the door to his loft slides open and Isaac comes in with a smug looking Stiles clinging to his back. The second Isaac saw Derek staring at them, he dropped Stiles' leg from where he was holding them at his sides and waited until she got her balance. As soon as she did, Stiles handed the beta wolf his gym bag from where it had been slung across her back along with her messenger bag.

Derek sees them grinning at each other, chuckling lowly at something left unsaid and he grimaces at the way he feels a pang of jealousy. He has to bite the inside of his cheek to keep from growling in annoyance at how easy they seem to get along. If he were to be honest with himself, he'd figure out that that's what he wants.

He wants things to be easy between him and Stiles. He had always wanted that but then Stiles would start rambling, he'd get annoyed way too fast, and he'd end up pushing her- though he thought she was a  _him_  back then- into a wall or slamming her into something. And now that he's had time to think about it, he feels really guilty because Stiles has always been a female he rough-housed and that's not the way it's supposed to be.

Derek is brought out of his thoughts when he sees Stiles punch Isaac in the shoulder, the wolf laughing and mocking her. "If you can't handle long distance then why did you join Cross Country?"

"'Cause I need to get fit again. I slacked off during the summer and look what happened! I couldn't even handle the stairs."

"You're just a fatass." Isaac cracked. "Stop eating so much."

Derek would've snapped at Isaac for that remark but the sight of Stiles dropping her bag and gasping in mock outrage, jumping up only to come back down with Isaac in a headlock had him second guessing himself. Isaac let her have her fun, the wolf laughing as Stiles tried to squeeze the air out of him.

"Take it back! Take it back, Lahey, or I swear to God I'll rope in Erica and Lydia to help me put you in one of my slutty dresses!"

Isaac wheezed out a laugh, the two of them struggling as their backs turned to Derek. Derek grinned at their behavior, his grin quickly vanishing when his eyes fell to Stiles' ass. The jeans she wore seemed like they were painted on and how he missed it when they first walked in, he'd never know. And then with her bending over right in front of him, the sight of Stiles was starting to do weird things to him.

Isaac froze, Stiles following his lead when the wolf easily stood out of her grip. He turned to stare at his alpha, cocking his head to the side only to earn a glare from said alpha when he realized Isaac studying him. Isaac snorted, glanced at Stiles before looking back and Derek and smirking.

"Don't you have homework to complete?" Derek barked.

Isaac's smirk widened, the wolf nodding before walking backwards from the room. Stiles stared curiously at him before straightening her clothes out and shrugging. "What's his deal?" She asked and picked up her bag, skipping to the kitchen. "Hola, Grumpy! What do you have to eat?"

Stiles dropped her bag once again, hopping up on the counter next to Derek and beaming brightly. He took a moment to just look at her, her hair mussed and falling all over the place yet she was still able to pull it off. The sleeves to to her button-up red plaid shirt stopped at her elbows and a white tank was visible beneath the open buttons. "Cold pizza." He answered as she knocked her heels against the cabinets. He glanced down wondering what replaced her adiddas and found black converse shoes that stopped at mid-calf. It was something new but totally Stiles. At least she hadn't gotten rid of the plaid.

"Feed me, o'mighty Alpha!" Stiles suddenly wailed, her arms flailing and barely managing to miss Derek's face.

Derek can hear Isaac snorting in his room, the alpha taking a moment to collect himself. He glares at Stiles which only earns him a waggle of her eyebrows and barely manages to keep his lips from twitching into a grin. "Get off the counter, Stiles. I have sofas for a reason."

"If I get off will you get me pizza?"

"I'll get you pizza once you get off."

"Hmm." Stiles hummed in thought. "I'll get off once I see my pizza."

Derek is cut off from answering when he hears Isaac groan and sees the boy come out from his room. "I'm going to Scott's. I need help.. on some.. stuff." He grumbles as he slips his shoes back on. Derek would have believed the pup if it weren't for his mumbling of  _"I swear, this is worse the Stiles' Lydia's phase."_

Derek glares at the back of Isaac's head until the door slides shut behind him and he turns back to a still grinning Stiles. "Off."

"Pizza first."

"Stiles."

"Derek."

Derek huffs, planting himself firmly in front of Stiles and crossing his arms. His face is void of any amusement and he knows if he can just stare at her until she fidgets, she'll cave and do what he says. Stiles crosses her arms as well, cocking an amused eyebrow at him and settles in for the challenge. Sure enough, a minute and half later, Stiles caves and throws her hands up. "Fine! I'll go sit on the sofa." She hops off the counter, stepping into Derek's personal bubble and poking his chest. "But now I demand three slices instead of two!"

As Stiles marches away, Derek wonders why she thinks she needs to get fit again. There's absolutely nothing unfit about her.

By the end of September, everyone is winding down and settling in at Derek's loft in their off time. They all are actually getting to see what it's like to have a somewhat normal life as teenagers now that nothing is threatening their town or lives, and it's actually quite nice.

Erica is curled yet again in Boyd's lap in what Boyd deemed as his chair while Scott and Isaac are sprawled out on a mattress in front of the TV. Stiles is laying down on the sofa in black baggy pajama bottoms and a gray, off the shoulder long sleeve with a picture of a cartoon-ish owl on it.

"Where's Lydia?" Derek asks as he makes his appearance and knocks Stiles feet off from the sofa to take a seat.

"Skype date with Jackson." She glares at him before swinging her feet back up and shoving her toes beneath his thigh. Derek returns the glare as Stiles wiggles her toes beneath him but he doesn't push her away. "What? My feet are cold and you run hot."

Derek then turned his attention to some lion documentary that had caught his wolves attention while Stiles fidgets until she got comfortable again. After only five minutes of silence, Stiles can't handle it. "Hey, Scotty? How are things with you and Allison?"

The question catches everyone off guard but when they look at Stiles, her gaze is locked on the TV but she's obviously waiting for an answer.

"Uh, okay, I guess." Scott shrugs. "We're just friends. She's focused on rebuilding her relationship with her Dad right now."

"I see." Stiles mumbles.

A commercial break comes on and Stiles starts to fidget again but before she can open her mouth, Derek beats her to it. "How are things at school now?" He nudges her foot. "People still attempting to bad touch you?" He smirks.

The pack all turn to Stiles, eyes wide seeing as Derek never tried to make conversation before other than at pack meetings. "Uh." Stiles splutters before pulling herself up into a seated position. "Sort of. Isaac sucks at being a pretend boyfriend."

"Hey! I resent that."

Derek quirks an eyebrow at them while Stiles glares at Isaac. "Well, you are! You couldn't even last two weeks with a pretend girlfriend before you cheated on her. Jeez, Lahey, keep it in your pants."

Scott, Erica, and Boyd all snort in amusement but since Scott is closer, Scott is the one who earns a punch to the gut from Isaac. While they all watch as the punch turns into a werewolf wrestling match, Derek catches Stiles' attention. "Are you back to telling people to talk to your hand again?"

"No." Stiles grins. "Danny doesn't leave my side now." Stiles is too busy answering Derek that she doesn't notice Derek tense at Danny's name.. but Erica does. "He's a great shield and everyone loves him so when he's rude, they actually smile and leave me alone."

"Danny." Derek drawled. After taking a second to calm down, his mind flashes back to the name. "Why does that name sound familiar?"

"'Cause you know him." Stiles snorted. "He's Jackson's gay best friend. The guy who hacked into the Hospital computers."

Derek seemed to think about it for a moment before his lips pressed into a thin line. "You mean the guy you made me strip for? The one who thought of me as Miguel?"

Stiles threw her head back and laughed, her eyes bright as she nodded. "The one and the same. God, I'll never forget that day."

Derek's lips twitch but he only shakes his head at her. "You don't plan to pimp me out again for his services, do you?"

"Oh no." She laughed. "It was all his idea." She grins at him. "He wants to go to Jungle but he doesn't want to go alone and not everyone is comfortable with gay clubs."

"So you agreed?"

"Sure did." Stiles beamed as if she was doing someone the greatest favor ever. "I get a chance to dance my ass off while not being groped. It's a win-win."

The lion documentary comes back on, Scott and Isaac quickly settling back down to watch them duke it out over a piece of land. Erica and Boyd easily avert their attention back to the screen and no-one, except Derek, see Stiles scoot down on the sofa to lay back down. Unconsciously, her feet land in Derek's lap and the usually grumpy alpha merely raises his eyebrow at her before glancing at her feet in his lap.

Stiles froze, her cheeks heating up and made to move her feet but Derek's hand coming down on her ankles kept her in place. Her cheeks heat up further but Derek turns his attention back to the TV, his thumb tapping a beat against the ankle bone until he slows and starts to circle it with his thumb. If anyone hears the quickening of Stiles' heart, they don't comment on it nor look at their alpha who seems to melt into the sofa while trying his best to make Stiles calm down without words.

Soon enough, Stiles relaxes and gets lost in the documentary. Derek doesn't care for the lions on TV so his mind wanders back to his talk with Stiles. Stiles who's going to be dressing up and heading out to a gay bar with a friend soon. Stiles who can't wait to get out there and dance, and Derek can't help but wonder what she's going to wear to Jungle that she would've been worried about being groped if it where any other place.

He tries to picture Stiles with the buzz cut again and baggy clothes, not liking where his train of thought was heading towards. He thinks of Stiles as a guy, hoping to banish any thoughts of female Stiles only to come to the conclusion that boy Stiles is just as attractive as girl Stiles.

The urge to protect had always been there, a piece of him had always wanted to be near Stiles though he fought against those urges everyday. He never paid much mind to his feelings around Stiles because he'd never been attracted to a boy before so every time he found himself seeking out Stiles, he went for a run to clear his mind. But now, now Stiles is clearly girl, and all those feelings are making sense. He's really attracted to his pack mate and he doesn't know what to do about it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you're confused, don't worry. So am I. Haha, I'm kidding. But I do realize the ending here might be a bit confusing so I'll explain.
> 
> Derek has always been attracted to Stiles but since he had NEVER felt that way about a dude before, he didn't know what his body was trying to tell him and didn't bother to act on anything. But now that he sees Stiles is clearly a girl, his body is clearly reacting and he realizes that he's very much attracted to Stiles.
> 
> I have nothing against dudes liking dudes or girls liking girls. It's just the way I planned this out because Derek is straight in this. It's the way I wanted it so don't go and bite off my head because I had Derek fighting his urges when he thought Stiles was a guy.
> 
> Feel free to message me with complaints or whatever. Don't be afraid to point out mistakes. I'll fix what I can.
> 
> Next update WILL be next week. I leave for Georgia tomorrow and will be leaving behind my laptop so yeah. See you next Tuesday.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I didn't think I'd have time to do anything today but I guess I did. Enjoy! Or you know.. don't. Whatever floats your boat. And okay, I'm serious now. The next update will be the 13th.. if I remember when I get back from GA. Someone be sure to remind me on that day.  
> Check the bottom for costume sets that the awesome [SCARLETSTORM](http://archiveofourown.org/users/ScarletStorm/profile) and [JESSICAHEREANDNOW](http://archiveofourown.org/users/Jessicahereandnow/profile) made for Stiles :D  
> 

Though it's only the beginning of October, the month brings excitement to the Pack as ideas for Halloween start floating around. Scott, Boyd, and Isaac want to throw a party while Erica, Stiles, and Lydia want to walk around Beacon Hills and possibly trick-or-treat. The boys all grumble but since Lydia is siding with the other two girls, it's pretty clear on what they're going to do.

Derek had just watched them argue about it for days as he wondered why the hell he bit half of them to begin with. Or why he doesn't just abandon them somewhere on the side of the road in another state. But then his pack cuddles one another or Stiles will flash him grin when no-one is paying attention and he remembers why he can't do it. They're pack. They're family. Stiles is.. something he can't quite figure out yet.

"Stiles, man, your dad needs to get another chair in here or something." Scott grumbles as he twists in his spot, trying to get comfortable with Stiles pressed on one side of him and Isaac on the other.

Lydia is smirking at them from her spot on the sofa chair before chastising Scott to stop calling Stiles  _man_ whileErica and Boyd are chuckling from their spot on the loveseat. "Shutup, Scotty. At least you're not the one practically groping Tall, Stubbly, and Scary."

Scott grimaces while Isaac hides his grin behind his hand. For the past two weeks- Isaac, Erica, Lydia, and sometimes Scott conspired so that Stiles always had a seat next to the alpha. Stiles still hadn't caught on to what they were doing but Derek knew. Derek knew and he was just waiting until Stiles figured it out.

Stiles continued to squirm, Scott fidgeting behind her and Derek had had enough. Rolling his eyes, the alpha grabs Stiles by her calves and drapes them over his lap, pulling her even closer so her upper body is leaning against Scott. Stiles squeakes, catching a couch pillow that Isaac threw at her and covered her lap where her sleep shorts had ridden up.

"There." Derek grunts. "Now can everyone stop squirming and watch the damn show?"

Boyd hides his grin behind Erica's head and everyone finally settles down. With Stiles practically sitting in Derek's lap there was enough space for Scott and Isaac to get comfortable. Stiles was on the verge of hyperventilating until the familiar faces of Sam and Dean Winchester popped up on the screen. She immediately relaxed, smiling goofily at the Hunters on screen and settled in for some of Sam's bitch-face and Lucifer's sass.

They were only three episodes in when Erica started the debate on who the cuter brother was. Erica and Lydia actually agreed on something and were Team Dean, Isaac and Scott both had soft spots for Sam, Boyd and Derek refused to join in on the discussion, and Stiles blew them all off by stating Daddy Winchester and Lucifer were both by far the hottest of the entire cast.

The debate of the hottest Winchester somehow resulted with the three females wrestling on the floor for dominance. Lydia and Erica were on the same team but Stiles put up a fight going down. The boys had been too amused to pull them apart and let them have at it, and had been too caught up to pay attention to anything else. It was only when the front door opened that everyone froze, Stiles stuck beneath Erica and Erica who was under Lydia.

The Sheriff strolled in, a brown package tucked beneath one arm as he took in the group of kids and Derek in his living room. Stiles, Erica, and Lydia were gazing up innocently at John while Scott and Isaac shook with silent laughter. Derek looked ready to bolt the second the Sheriff reached for his gun and Boyd kept his expression blank.

Taking in everyone's mixed reactions at having been snuck up on, John sighed and rolled his eyes before tossing the package to the nearest person, which happened to be Boyd, and kept his eyes on his daughter. "Cecilia and your cousins sent that for you. She also sent me a letter saying that whenever you wanted to stay with them, their house is your house."

"H-hey, Pops." Stiles wiggles out from her current position. "What are you doing home so early?"

"I was patrolling." John answered, his eyes darting from one person to another. "And I needed to use the bathroom. What are  _you_ doing, oh daughter of mine, that involves Ms. Reyes and Ms. Martin to sit on top of you?"

Stiles shrugged nonchalantly. "Just our typical discussion of which Winchester is most good-looking."

The Hale Pack's attention jumps from one Stilinski to the other as they go back and forth.

John snorts. "Of course." And rolls his eyes. "Well I hope most of you agreed that it was Mary." Stiles gasps in mock outrage as the Sheriff ducks behind a wall to go take care of his business.

When he's gone, everyone slowly turns to Stiles who is eagerly ripping into her package that Boyd tossed to her. "What was that?" Scott is the first to break the silence.

"What was what?" Stiles mumbles.

"That!" Scott slightly flails. "Your dad just walked in on us all here. All of us, including  _Derek!_ Shouldn't he have flipped?"

"Huh?" Stiles looks up, her face scrunched up in confusion. "Derek? No, dude, I vouched for the alpha a long time ago." She waves it off as if it were nothing. "Told him Derek was a cool cat and everything."

"And your dad believed you?" Derek's eyebrows rise in shock.. and then settled down in gratitude.

"Mhm. You even helped your own case when you took in Isaac. My dad's totally cool with you though he might be kind of suspicious of why you're hanging out with us but he'll probably ask me later and I'll have to do some more vouching. Don't worry about it."

Derek is kind of left speechless, as well as the rest of the pack, that they're still quiet when the Sheriff reappears. "I'll be in late tonight, kiddo, but I want to see those pictures too so make sure to take out all the incriminating ones."

"Will do! Love you. Bye!" She calls out as she beams at the hard-cover photo album that her cousins sent to her. The pictures are held inside plastic sleeves so it'll be easy to take out the incriminating ones and put them back after her dad has seen the book. The Sheriff walks out the front door and Isaac, Scott, Erica, and Lydia waste no time in scrambling to surround Stiles and see what their friend did in Europe.

Stiles flips to the first page and immediately cringes at what she sees. "God, why didn't you guys tell me I looked like that with a buzz cut?!"

"Because you are a rare commodity among the female race that can actually pull it off." Lydia shrugs as if it were no big deal. "But please, don't ever cut it like that again. Your pixie do is way cuter."

"Amen." Erica agrees.

The first three pages are of Stiles, pre-makeover, with other girls their age. They're all rather pale but Stiles is the only one who has moles freckling her face and neck. There's pictures of Stiles and three girls cramped in the back of a car, Stiles sitting on a plane next to an older lady with vibrant red hair and a lip piercing, and Stiles with an elder man and woman walking out of an airport terminal.

They get to pictures where wigs start coming into play, wigs that are cut perfectly right at the chin in a variety of colors and Stiles stops them right there. "Before we proceed any further, I should warn you that there may or may not be some nudity in here."

Boyd snorted, Erica grinning like the she-wolf she is. "What were you doing that involved nudity?"

"Nothing!" Stiles squeaked. "Honestly!" The fast beating of her heart and the red coloring her cheeks said otherwise. At everyone's intense stare, she caved. "That crazy red-head you saw in earlier pictures supplied alcohol to us all. Pillow fights turned violent! And clothes might have come off because someone didn't know how to give a dare without making someone else strip."

"Oh my god." Scott groaned at the same time Isaac breathed airily, "I love your family."

Stiles continued to flip, her clothing changing to more feminine articles of clothing with each page and it wasn't until she reached the photos of a club scene that she squeaked, slapped her hand on one photo and attempted to slip it out of it's cover with her other hand.

"Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god." She wailed in embarrassment. "She said she deleted this one! I can't believe she kept it and printed it out."

"What? What is it?" Isaac asked.

"Most.. embarrassing.. such assholes." Stiles mumbled.

Erica and Lydia both leaned back, both females raising an eyebrow at one another before Erica latched her hands around Stiles' upper arms and dragged her backwards, Lydia launching forward and picking up the album to see the picture.

"Stiles!" Lydia shrieked, voice scandalized though she grinned manically at her. "I don't know whether to be proud.. or disgusted." Her nose wrinkled as she looked back at the picture.

Stiles flushed red, her body slumping with defeat as Lydia flashed the page to Erica and Isaac, Erica erupting in laughter while Isaac cringed. "Gross. I didn't need to see that."

Scott, who had been intrigued the moment his best friend tried to hide the picture, stole the book from Lydia's hands to get his look. Derek and Boyd both leaned forward to peer over his shoulder and while Boyd grimaced and laughed, Scott paled, and Derek went wide-eyed.

"Please tell me that's not-"

"It's a drink!" Stiles cut Scott off. "I swear! My aunt bought them for us and we were already kind of buzzing, and the liquid was.. well.. that-" She pointed to the scandalous photo. "-and yeah, we thought it was funny at the time."

Derek took the book from Scott's grasp, his eyes glued to the photo of a very drunk Stiles looking up at the camera in an electric blue wig, a black and blue corset top, and a plaid skirt with a creamy white substance dripping from her chin onto her chest. He ignores the way his stomach flips at the seductive nature of the picture and shakes his head to clear it. "And exactly what type of drink was this?"

Stiles gulps, everyone looking towards her waiting for an answer. "It's called a cum shot."

Erica and Lydia cackle evilly at Stiles' embarrassment and she takes the chance to rip the book from Derek's lap, slipping out the picture and sitting atop of it so she can destroy it later.

When Stiles stumbles into Derek's place- she's sweaty, panting, and clutching her sides as if she'd just ran a marathon. Her hair is damp against her forehead, cheeks and neck flushed from running up the stairs- she refuses to take the damn elevator- and her Star Wars pajama bottoms are barely clinging to her hips while her yellow tank top clings to every dip and curve of her upper torso.

Isaac is nodding off on the sofa but when he catches sight of Stiles- who he considers his little sister because he easily towers over her and everyone else- he perks up and is already interested in what has her heart beating erratically. Derek only manages to peer over his paperwork of getting back the piece of Hale property that the county seized when Stiles opens her mouth.

"Please tell me you have running hot water?!" Derek doesn't answer, his lips pressed in a thin line as Stiles fidgets from foot to foot. One hand grasps a strap to a backpack that's slung over her shoulder while her other hand fingers the hem of her shirt. "It's just that Danny only informed me that he's cashing in for his services and I'm expected to be at Jungle in under two hours and yeah, my club clothes are here and I figured I'd shower here. So, please, tell me that you have hot water!"

Derek's lips actually twitch into a grin, the alpha pointing towards the gaping hole in the brick wall that leads to another room that acts as a study. "You know the way to the bathroom."

"Awesome." She breathes a sigh of relief. "Where'd you tuck away my suitcases?"

"In my room." Isaac answers.

Stiles grins at him while walking backwards through the gaping hole. "Your room has just become my dressing room. Stay away." Isaac salutes her, letting her know that he got the message loud and clear when she turns her attention to Derek. "Purple, blue, or pink?"

Derek's head tilts to the side in confusion. "What?"

"Choose one." She chuckles.

Derek's brows furrow before he shrugs. "Blue. What does-"

"You'll see!" Stiles calls out before turning and running for the shower.

The moment Stiles disappears and he hears the water start in the bathroom, Derek goes back to his paperwork to see what can be done about his property and Isaac settles for turning on the TV at a low volume to keep himself occupied. Both guys are focused on what they'd occupied themselves with that they only realize Stiles is done with her shower when they hear her muttering,  _"Stupid dress.. forgot how short this was."_ Derek and Isaac both share amused looks before listening intently for Stiles again. They hear the distinct sound of zippers being unzipped and Stiles snorting,  _"What the hell was I thinking in choosing this?"_

There's a bunch of unlady-like grunting and groaning before they hear the sound of Stiles cheering in relief. There's more zippers being zipped and unzipped before the sound of the bathroom faucet turns on. Stiles goes quiet for a good three minutes and then a blow-dryer comes to life.

"I think I miss when all it took for Stiles to get ready was five minutes." Isaac dead-panned.

Derek snorted. "I know I liked it before the rest of the pack started using my place as their own."

"And I definitely loved it when you two never spoke."

The sight of Stiles in her club attire is enough for Derek's mouth to go dry, eyes wide, and for Isaac to bolt upright. She's wearing the black dress with four cut outs along her torso with it's skirt barely covering the important bit of her body. The top of the skirt rides so low that Derek has to clench his jaw from dropping when he sees pale hip bones jutting out. Dark moles scatter long the right side of her torso, and a bit across her cleavage that's on display. Her hand flies up to her forehead, brushing aside blue bangs as she smirks at them.

Stiles snorts at their expressions, twirling on spot for them and her black leather boots that end just below her knee click as she spins.

"There's no way in hell you're going out like that."

Stiles rolls her eyes, hands settling on her hips. "It's a gay club for dudes. I'll be safe as can be from any bad touching." She tells Isaac. Isaac whines, not liking how much skin is on display for others to ogle and turns to Derek with the best puppy dog eyes he has. "Oh no you don't! You can't make the alpha tell me what to do. That's not fair."

Isaac whimpers, his gaze settling on his alpha in hopes of getting him to keep his pack mate- his sister- from going out dressed like that. But Derek, Derek is still too busy staring at Stiles.

He can feel his wolf whining in the back of his mind, wanting to grab Stiles and whisk her away to keep her hidden from everyone's eyes. Stiles is too busy glaring at Isaac from trying to use their alpha against her that she doesn't see Derek struggling with himself to remain seated and keep his hands to himself.

It isn't until the door to the loft slides open that everyone breaks out of their silence. Peter swaggers in, grinning like his usual creepy self but when his eyes land on Stiles, he trips over his own two feet and stumbles before catching himself. If it was anyone but creeper Peter, Stiles would have laughed. But it's not so funny when Peter's nostrils flare just the slightest and his eyes flash an electric blue that causes Stiles to cross her arms around her body and try to hide herself.

Derek is immediately up from his seat, eyes flashing alpha red as a growl emanates from the back of throat causing Peter to snap out of his appreciative gazing and back down. Peter takes a second to clear his head, gaze flickering between Stiles and Derek before his signature leer comes back into play.

Derek growls yet again but it doesn't phase his Uncle like it did the first time. When he sees Stiles taking a step towards him, Derek catches her gaze. "Give me five minutes. I'm coming with you."

Peter snorts in amusement, Isaac sighs in relief, and Stiles numbly nods in agreement.

..

..

The look on Danny's face at her night's attire and the appreciative eye-fuck he gives Derek, who's wearing fitted jeans that cling lowly on his hip with the tops of his boxer briefs showing and a gray sleeveless vest that's left unbuttoned over a long sleeve white henley, is totally worth Derek tagging along.

So is the fact that when almost every male gives Derek his attention, the tips of his ears burn red and he forces his face into the crook of Stiles' neck with a whine of embarrassment, hands splayed on her hips to keep her in front of him. Stiles freezes at the intimate contact but when Danny passes by with the words,  _"Cousin Miguel, my ass."_ , Stiles relaxes as she bursts into giggles and runs her fingertips through the hair on the back of Derek's head. This is a night she'll never forget.

Halloween quickly sneaks up on them and before they know it, the younger kids are spilling into the streets right before the sun completely disappears. The girls of the pack are excited, each female having already picked out their costumes while the guys just sigh and put up with whatever they have planned. They had tried to wrangle the guys into costumes as well but they whined too much for Lydia's tastes so she dismissed the idea of the boys dressing up.

Lydia's the first to show up at the loft, her black ankle boot stilettos clicking along the concrete floor of Derek's place. Sleek black wings are strapped to her back, the wings arching over the top of her head and stopping at the back of her knees, a black mini-dress stopping at mid thigh along with black lace stockings. Her makeup is done up flawlessly, eyes alight with mischief and lips painted ruby red.

"What are you supposed to be?" Isaac grins when he finally spots her.

Derek comes out from his room, towel drying his hair as he raises an eyebrow at the redhead standing in his living room space. "I'm the Angel of Death, of course." She says in her best  _duh_ tone.

"Fitting." Derek grunts to which Lydia replies, "I know."

"So what time are we leaving and what exactly is the plan for tonight?"

"Stiles wants to get some candy." Lydia answers Derek. "And Erica just wants to prowl the streets."

"So we're pretty much just walking around for the hell of it?"

"Mhm." Lydia hums as she twirls one of her curls around her forefinger. Derek rolls his eyes, going back to his room to get dressed while Lydia settles on a chair that wouldn't mess with her wings. "So do you know what Erica and Stiles are dressing up as?"

"Not a clue." Isaac sighs. "But Stiles was here yesterday and picking through her suitcases again. She pulled out some really ugly white boots and a small pair of shorts before leaving."

"Home-made costume." Lydia scowls. "She better show some serious skin or flash cleavage and some cheek if she wants my approval."

Upstairs, the sound of wood splintering makes Isaac grin. "Or not if you want Derek to be sane for the rest of the night." Glass shatters up above and Lydia lights up as if someone just showered her with expensive gifts. Derek was totally screwed.

Erica, Boyd, and Scott show up as a group- the two boys dressed in jeans, fitted tees and leather jackets. Erica breezes in, eyes clouded with black eye shadow with a headband tucked into her curls and two bouncy antennas. Lydia beams proudly at the strapless black and yellow mini dress with leather boots that end mid-thigh.

"Bumble-bee." Lydia grins. "I approve."

Erica curtsies. "Just like I knew you would."

The sun disappears soon after and all they're waiting for is Stiles. Not even ten minutes later, Derek gets a text.

_Come downstairs. There's no way in hell I'm climbing those stairs.- S_

Derek relays the message, Lydia grumbling all the while about Stiles needing to buck up and use the elevator like the rest of them. They all make sure they have their phones and money before all packing into the elevator that groans under their weight but still manages to carry them down.

It isn't until the wolves of the pack sense their alpha going tense that they scan the parking lot for Stiles' familiar blue jeep. When found, they also find Stiles who's leaning against the grill of her jeep, elbows propped on the hood on either side of her as she grins lazily at them. She has hideous white fur boots on that stop mid-calf, black short shorts that obviously gain Lydia's approval, a white fitted tee that stops well above her navel with the words  _Make Me Howl_  printed in black bold letters on it, and a gray and white wolf's head beanie sitting atop her head with it's ears hanging down towards her waist.

Isaac and Scott are immediately enthralled with the beanie, Stiles' outfit only barely gaining Erica and Lydia's approval, and Boyd just smiles at her supposed costume. Derek is the last to approach, everyone stepping back and giving their alpha space. His eyes rake over the creamy expanse of skin on display and Stiles goes red under his gaze. Ever since Jungle, something definitely sparked between the two but they have yet to talk about it. No-one talks about it though they all know there's  _something_  between the two.

Derek tugs at one of the ears before his hand falls and he tugs on the hem of her shirt trying to get it to cover her up more. When the shirt merely shrinks back into place, Derek snorts at the words before rolling his eyes. "Aren't you three missing something?" The pack remains quiet, eyes flickering from one person to the next. "If you three are going trick-or-treating, don't you need something to carry the candy in?"

"Oh!" Stiles' eyes light up, she slipping out from between Derek and the jeep to the side of her vehicle and reaching in through the passenger window. "Hope you girls like black pumpkins. If not, then deal!"

..

..

The night ended up being a success, the girls coming away with their plastic pumpkins full of candy. Lydia and Erica are highly territorial over the candy, slapping hands away when the boys try to sneak themselves a piece. Stiles is just on a high of sugar that she happily hands Boyd her bucket with a grin before slipping off her beanie and tugging it down over Isaac's head.

The wolf-pup beams at her, flashing yellow eyes playfully before huddling with Scott and Boyd to get his sugar fix, beanie left untouched on his head. Erica and Lydia find an empty table in the park, both ladies taking a seat to rest their feet. Stiles sits with them, ruffling her hair to her liking before giving up and splaying out atop the table.

"You know, you only have yourself to blame for your sore feet, right? You, Erica, and Lydia."

Stiles groaned. "Shutup. Collecting candy from strangers is always fun. Even you had fun, just admit it." She kicks out, catching Derek on his thigh.

"It had it's moments." Derek smirks. "Especially when Erica wanted to stop by the nursing home. I'm surprised no-one had a heart attack."

"Oh my god." Stiles groans. "We were totally spank bank material for the old peeps of Beacon Hills. Gross."

Derek laughs, throws his head back and laughs at her words, teeth flashing in the dark. The Hale pack actually stops mid-sentence, mid-bite, mid-everything as they watch their alpha lean against the table next to Stiles' legs as he laughs at whatever she just said. It isn't until Stiles glares at them that they snap out of their shock, diving right back in to whatever they were talking about so they leave her and Derek back to their conversation. Erica and Lydia cast her sly grins over their shoulders but say nothing else on the matter.

When they finally decide leave and head back to the loft, Stiles groans and refuses to move. Everyone, sans Derek, shrug before walking away knowing full well that she'll follow soon enough.

She's laying atop the table, legs dangling over the edge with her eyes closed. She doesn't open her eyes until she feels a hand on her knee and someone settling against her knees. When Stiles does open her eyes, Derek is standing with his back to her.

"What are-"

"I seem to recall that you like piggy back rides."

"I-"

"I'm only offering once." Derek grunts. "Better decide before the offer is off the table." Stiles remains quiet, mouth slightly agape at the fact that Derek is willing to carry her. "5.. 4-"

"Okay, okay!" Stiles yelps, pushing herself up and wrapping her arms around Derek's neck, her knees parting and allowing Derek to press back before his hands slide beneath her knees and lift her up on his back.

She chuckles a bit before Derek takes off, his long strides easily catching up to their friends. When their pack sees them, they're met with dead silence though the gleeful smiles are easily to distinguish in the dark.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the [COSTUME SET](http://www.polyvore.com/cgi/set?id=96730082) that ScartletStorm made.  
> And this is the [COSTUME SET](http://www.polyvore.com/cgi/set?id=118944556) that Jessicahereandnow made.  
> Thanks!


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow, okay, so not my best but here it is. I hope you leave a review and if you go to my tumblr right [HERE](http://melissalzn.tumblr.com/), I'll post what happened on my trip in case anyone is interested. Probably not but I'm still doing it because I need to rant.
> 
> So, uh, sorry for any mistakes in this chapter. I tried to catch and fix them all but I'm sure I missed something. If you find anything, point it out and I'll fix it. Thanks!
> 
> P.S- I'm aware that werewolves aren't affected by alcohol but for the sake of this, just go with it :)

**November**

Stiles is dreaming. She knows she's dreaming because she's in Derek's loft.. with him.. laying down side-by-side and legs tangled together. Well almost side-by-side seeing as she's practically laying atop of him, lying in the space between his body and the back of the grungy yet comfortable sofa with her head tucked beneath his chin. One arm is wrapped protectively along her lower back and she can feel herself on the edge of waking up but the dream is too good to give up.

Halloween changed things between them- she knows it did, he knows it, hell even the rest of the pack knows it did but Stiles and Derek are still not talking about it. First, it had been Jungle that changed things when Stiles laughingly dragged Derek to the dance floor and getting him to grind in ways she didn't know her alpha could. She had easily placed his hands on her hips when he didn't know where to touch and after a few minutes of swaying and swiveling, one hand slipped and splayed across her lower belly while the other hooked a thumb in the waistband of her supposed skirt. And then Halloween had to go and make things much more confusing when Derek willingly gave her a piggy back ride. He didn't complain once on the trek back to his loft and Stiles even earned a few murderous glares when the other boys wouldn't carry either Erica or Lydia.

Things were good. Things were great. But they still weren't talking about it.

Dream!Derek shifted beneath Stiles and she burrowed further. " _Nooo_." She grumbled, "I don't wanna wake up yet." Dream!Derek shook with his deep rumbling laughter, jostling Stiles which was only causing her to become alert in reality.

_Knock, knock!_

"Nooooo. Go away."

_Knock, knock!_

"It's a really good dream. Stop it."

_Knock, knock!_

Stiles turns over on her stomach the second she hears her door click open. "Stiles, come-  _Jesus!_ Cover up, will you?!"

"S'not my fault sleeping in underwear is more comfy." Stiles grinned into her pillow, relishing in making her Dad uncomfortable for waking her up. "Sheets feel great against smooth legs."

"Yes well, I think I could've gone the rest of my life without seeing my adult daughter's cheeks on her rear."

Stiles huffed a laugh, reaching blindly around her body until she found her blanket and dragged it over her body before turning over to face her Dad. "It was bound to happen sooner or later what with you and your inability to yell out before entering."

"It's calling knocking, Stiles."

"Yeah, well, you can still ask if I'm decent."

John rolled his eyes, shaking his head as if he couldn't believe this was his daughter. "Happy 18th Birthday, kiddo." He says. "Breakfast is downstairs and you have a few presents downstairs."

"Thanks, Dad." Stiles grinned. "I'll be down after washing up."

* * *

 

Stiles made quick work of raking her fingers through her hair to be more presentable, washing her face, and brushing her teeth. She made sure to pull on some shorts that weren't too short and a long-sleeve henley that she may or may have not stolen from Derek.

She skips downstairs, sliding into the kitchen as her mouth waters at the smell of bacon and sausage filling the air. Real sausage and bacon instead of the cheap healthy crap she buys for her and her dad's diet. Birthdays and major holidays are the only cheat days they allow themselves so John had easily and eagerly made a birthday breakfast for the both of them. Pancakes are slid in front of her followed by a bottle of syrup and then a plate of bacon and sausage. Orange juice and coffee is set on the table as well before John sits down with his own plate of food, both Stilinski's eagerly diving right into it.

It's only when Stiles is debating whether or not she can put away a third pancake when John breaks the silence. "So what are the plans for tonight? Scott or Lydia coming to stay the night with you?"

Stiles settles for two more strips of bacon instead before looking up at her dad. "Not really." She winces. "We're, uh.. kind of doing a group thing this year."

"That's nice." John smiles. "So what does this group thing consist of? And who?"

"Oh you know, lots of pizza and wings. Maybe a movie marathon if I can convince them to marathon all the Harry Potter films. I can probably get Isaac to side with me if.." She trails off in thought as her dad snorts.

"Stop avoiding the question, Stiles. Who's going to be there and where is this marathon taking place?"

"Everyone." Stiles slumps in defeat. "Scott, Isaac, Lydia, Erica, Boyd, and Derek. We're kind of taking over Derek's loft for the night."

"Mhm." John hums and crosses his arms over his chest. He remains quiet, letting his daughter stew in the silence that followed after her confession before sighing and rolling his eyes. "You're eighteen and I trust you. Sort of." He grunts. "Don't do anything stupid."

Stiles smiles in response. "Scout's honor."

"You lasted five hours in girl scouts."

"At least I tried." Stiles laughed. "Now where are these presents you spoke of?"

John stands from the table, walking around to his beaming daughter who is also standing and ruffling her hair before pressing a kiss to her forehead. "In the living room, Sweetie. Mr. Argent stopped by the station early this morning and dropped off a present from Allison, which by the way, I thought you were still friends?"

"Oh, we are." Stiles impishly grinned. "But stuff with her Scott are still iffy and she doesn't come around much anymore. They're working on it though, I think."

"Oh." John rubbed the back of neck sheepishly. "Oh.. wow."

Stiles narrowed her eyes. "What do you mean by  _Oh.. wow_?"

"Funny thing, actually.." He nervously chuckled. "Chris and I got to talking and one thing led to another, and I may have invited Chris and his daughter over for Thanksgiving."

Stiles face-palmed. "And you now just remembered that Scott and Melissa are coming for Thanksgiving, too, huh?"

"Yep."

Stiles groaned but shrugged with a laugh of her own. "Well, might as well ask now since it's going to be awkward that day, anyway. Can I invite Derek and Isaac, too? They don't have any family." She said as if that explained everything.

John scowled and narrowed his eyes suspiciously. "Derek has his Uncle Peter."

"Yeah, but.." Stiles grimaced. "I guess we can invite him, too. None of them know how to cook."

When he caught sight of the time on the wall behind Stiles, he sighed. "Sure. Why not make it an even bigger gathering and invite Erica and Boyd as well? From what I hear, their families aren't big on actually being a family."

Stiles beamed. "Thanks, Dad! I'll help Melissa cook that day, too, so she's not overwhelmed."

"Yeah, yeah." John grumbled though the bone-crushing hug he was suddenly developed in calmed him right back down. "Well, you go open presents. I need some sleep since I'm working overnight again."

"Sure thing, Dad. Thanks again!" She smiled as he trudged up the stairs to get some sleep.

* * *

 

At Derek's loft, Derek had successfully kicked out Peter when he and Lydia kept getting into petty arguments. Lydia had taken balloons and party favors which where bottles of tequila, rum, vodka, and wine coolers- and set about to actually give the loft some color. Isaac and Derek just let her work, everyone knowing that once Lydia set her mind to something, it was best to just let her do it. She had worked for a good half hour, hanging teal, pink, and black streamers from the window corner to window corner, and setting about helium-filled balloons in groups of three around the place. When she had finished with that, she left for home to shower, change, and pick up Stiles' present but not before demanding the boys change into something more suitable for a party.

When the light started to fade from the sky, one by one, the pack members showed up at the Derek's. Derek and Isaac had both listened to Lydia- both guys showering and changing into jeans. While Isaac settled for a gray v-neck, Derek settled for one his regular well worn henley's. Both guys had padded around in socks seeing as they weren't going anywhere and it was their place of home.

Lydia was the first to show, as usual, heels clicking and dress flowing with her fierce walk. A rather large hand bag hung from her shoulder, most likely holding a spare set of clothing since everyone was spending the night, and a pink Victoria Secret bag clutched in her other hand. Well, at least they knew what Stiles got from Lydia.

Surprisingly, Stiles showed up second, the birthday girl sporting a fitted Hulk tee, jeans shorts, and green bangs. Derek had grinned when Lydia complained about her clothing but Derek was just proud that Stiles didn't change all that much when she lost all her baggy clothing.

Lydia had quickly gotten over it, giving Stiles a birthday hug before plopping a tiara that read  _Birthday Girl_ on her head. Stiles accepted it, flouncing off towards the living room where Isaac enveloped her in a hug as well. Once Isaac stepped away and went off to retrieve his gift for Stiles to add it to Lydia's, Stiles turned to Derek with a smirk. "Come on, big guy. Everyone has to hug the birthday girl."

Lydia snorted somewhere in the background but quickly busied herself with Isaac by setting up a gift table. Derek, with his hands tucked deep in his jean pockets, huffed and stepped forward letting his hands slip out and pull Stiles into a hug. She had tensed up at the sudden impact of Derek's chest but quickly melted into the hug when she felt Derek sit his chin atop her head. "Stop coloring your hair. It leaves a funny smell."

"But it's fun." She playfully whined into his chest. "And it washes out within the week."

"Still smells funny." Derek rubbed his cheek atop her head before pulling back. "By the way, Happy birthday."

Stiles grinned and giggled. "Thanks." She stepped out of Derek's arms and turned to her other friends.

While they waited for the last three pack members, Stiles took the time to ask Lydia what her plans for Thanksgiving were. She was relieved to find out that Lydia already had plans, the redhead going out of town with her parents to some relatives home, and filled her in on why she was asking. Isaac was excited to go to Stiles' house for Thanksgiving seeing as his Dad never really celebrated the holiday and Derek was plain shocked. Both guys agreed to go, even after Stiles told them who all is going to be there, and Derek even promises that he'd make sure Peter was on his best behavior. All of them will be on their best behavior.

Erica, Boyd, and Scott all show up at the same time. Erica is carrying gifts that she sets off to the side where Lydia instructs her to, and Boyd and Scott are carrying boxes of pizza, wings, and several liters of soda. They decide to eat first, open presents, and then do whatever their teenage minds can come up with.

They're scattered all around the kitchen, sitting at the table or sitting atop the counter tops, plates of pizza and wings in their hand as they eat.

"So what'd your dad get you?" Scott asked around a mouthful of chewed up pizza. "Same as always?"

Stiles nodded. "Same as always plus a hundred more."

"Wow." Scott smiled. "Two hundred?"

"Two hundred." Stiles confirmed.

"Uh, what are you two talking about?" Isaac asked what everyone else was thinking.

"My present." Stiles answered. "My dad, ever since my mom passed away, has always gotten me a hundred dollar gift card to the book store. This year though, he got me an extra hundred."

"You already have a list of books you're dying to buy, don't you?" Lydia smirked.

"You know me so well, Lyds."

Scott and Erica chuckled as they all continued to eat. "Did you get anything else?" Scott asked.

Stiles nodded as she gulped down some soda. "Yeah. My cousins sent me more clothing that I'm going to have to hide here, Allison got me a leather bound mythology book that looks very interesting, and Jackson-"

"Jackson?!" Scott choked on his food. "Jackson actually sent you something?!" Apparently Scott wasn't the only shocked one. Isaac, Erica, and Lydia had all frozen mid-bite.

"Yeah." Stiles drawled. "Lydia told him that I was finally dressing like a girl so he sent me a card wishing me a Happy Birthday, even though he still hates me, and that it was about damn time I grew my hair out."

"Well, it seems he's still a dick." Scott grumbled.

"A funny dick." Stiles clarified. At everyone's curious stare, she explained what else he sent. "He might have also sent a picture of himself slightly wolfed out and standing in front of the Tower of London."

Lydia scoffed. "What's so funny about that?"

"He captioned it with "An American Werewolf in London."

Only Derek, Lydia, and Erica got the reference.

The rest of the presents came next; Scott getting his best friend the Batman trilogy on Blu-ray, Derek and Isaac getting Stiles a leather jacket, and Lydia gave her black lacy lingerie complete with stockings and a garter. Erica had cackled madly, everyone finding out why a second later when Stiles ripped into Erica's present to pull out a deep red lacy lingerie set. Stiles had blushed when the boys wolf-whistled at her but when she finally got to Boyd's, the squeal made everyone flinch and forget about the lingerie. Stiles pulled out a red hoodie from a box, the front of it saying  _I Run With Wolves_  in bold black letters when zipped up all the way. When turned around, a silhouette of a female stood next to a rather large wolf standing as tall as her shoulders.

After many thanks for the gifts, Lydia busted out the alcohol. Derek didn't bother to fight them on it seeing as they were all spending the night there anyway. Shoes were kicked off and Lydia took the time to go change into more comfortable clothes since she was the only one in a dress. Once settled in and around the living room, Lydia set out shot glasses and made the rules for a drinking game. Anytime someone said  _Stiles,_ they had to take a shot. Since Derek rarely spoke, the rule for him was that if he got caught looking at Stiles, by anyone in the pack or Stiles herself, they had to call him out and make him take a shot.

It was simple enough but within the first hour; Scott had three shots, Isaac and Erica had two, and Derek had four. Things weren't looking good for Derek.

They had attempted to watch a movie but the second Stiles mentioned Harry Potter, everyone had either groaned or whined out her name and Derek glared. They all took a shot.

Erica suggested Truth or Dare, Derek grumbled about how he needed friends his own age while Lydia actually contemplated it before suggesting that yes, Truth or Dare was suitable for the night. Erica passed out the fruity wine coolers to Lydia and Stiles while the boys complained they were too manly for that and started to mix up combinations that tasted good to them. Derek was the only one who settled for Crown and Coke because that's what usually tasted best.

Being the birthday girl, Stiles went first by choosing Isaac as her victim. He picked dare which resulted in the pup being used as Stiles' personal barbie doll. After disappearing into his room, Isaac came out with his curls parted into two tiny pigtails, blue eyeshadow, colored cheekbones, lip gloss, and a ripped tank top covering his chest with glitter smeared down his neck and chest. He grumbled the entire time he had to stay dressed up; Isaac, Scott, Boyd, and Derek all downing shots not long after.

Isaac picked Lydia as his victim, wanting to make her as uncomfortable as he could and dared her to walk around the loft barefoot. They all knew she had a thing about dirt and weren't let down when she cursed Isaac the entire time.

Lydia picked on Derek, Derek downing a shot when he saw her smug smirk after his eyes darted to Stiles for a brief moment, and chose the safe route of Truth. Everyone booed Derek's decision but Lydia got back at him by making him tell the truth about what movie made him cry when he saw it. They all laughed when he admitted it was Titanic and then he down another shot when Stiles caught all their attention and remarked that they had all cried during that movie.

After everyone had a good amount of alcohol in their system, a very awkward lap dance provided by Scott for Isaac, Erica dying her hair pink, and Boyd stripping to his underwear, Lydia managed to target the birthday girl.

"You know, I heard that you have some very slinky dance moves from our fellow friend, Danny." Lydia smirked evilly. "The things you can do with your hips and what not is not something our Stiles would have done before."

"Okay." Stiles drawled uneasily. "What are you getting at?" She and Lydia had gained everyone's attention, Erica calling out Derek and making him down a shot.

"What I wanna know, since you can move so expertly, is if you're still a virgin? If not; who, what, when, and where? And if yes, why?"

Stiles groaned at the evasive personal question and Derek growled lowly at the thought of Stiles being with someone else, but since everyone was either really drunk or on a good buzz, no-one noticed it. Scott and Isaac both grimaced at knowing whether or not their friend was still virginal or not, Boyd could care less, and both Lydia and Erica were eagerly awaiting her answer.

"To make Derek stop growling like a protective cave-man, the answer is yes, I still am a virgin." Derek is startled out of his growling when Stiles smirks at him and when he makes eye contact, she makes him down a shot. Erica and Lydia pout at their friend still being a virgin, and now it's the boys turn to look interested on why Stiles hasn't swiped her card. "It's not like I'm waiting for marriage or anything." She shrugs and take a sip of her berry wine cooler. "It's just.. I don't want to be someone's one night stand or have a one night stand just because some people think that being a virgin is a bad thing." Everyone is startled by her honest reaction that they all go quiet and Stiles really gets into her explanation. "I want.. I want to be with someone who really likes me and isn't with me for just one thing. I want the person to still be with me after I've completely given myself to them and not drop me the second I spread my legs for them." She says. The pack all take in her words, the girls sighing fondly at their friend when she gets too embarrassed to meet anyone's gaze.

Clearing her throat awkwardly, Stiles looks up to see Isaac, Erica, and Scott grinning fondly at her. Boyd nods at her in understanding before flashing her a brief smile but when she looks at Derek, it's like all the air is sucked from her lungs. The look he's giving her is pure adoration and she thinks she might melt any second now but all that's broken when Lydia pipes up.

"Stiles, I think I just fell in love with you."

The pack breaks into a fit of laughter; Lydia and Derek proudly taking their shots like champs.

The next morning is totally going to be a bitch fest.

Erica and Isaac are lounging on Stiles' bed, Stiles sitting at her desk while Lydia is curled up in a beanbag chair on mini-stilts of some sorts. Stiles doesn't know when or how the chair showed up in her room but she doesn't question it.

"Are we going to do anything or just lay around all day?" Isaac mumbled with his eyes closed.

Erica was curled into his side, both wolves having kicked off their shoes as soon as they had stepped through the front door. Stiles was busy clicking away on her laptop, knee bouncing as she constantly checked her phone for any new alerts, and Lydia flipped through the mythology book Stiles had gotten for her birthday.

"I.. it's a lazy day." Stiles blurted. "There's nothing to do."

"Then why are we here?" Erica sighed. "I could be lazy with Boyd right about now."

Lydia snorted but continued on with her peruse of the book in her lap.

_Knock, knock!_

"Stiles?" John stuck half his body through the cracked opening of the door. "I'm heading out. I'll leave the front door open for your friend."

"A-alright. Thanks, dad."

John smiled as a chorus of  _Bye, Sheriff_ and  _Have a good day at work_ followed his departure. Waiting until the front door closed and hearing it click shut behind Mr. Stilinski, Erica immediately sat up, eyes narrowed at Stiles. "Who else is coming over?"

Stiles nervously chuckled, fingers running through her hair. "Yeah.. about that.." But neither Erica or Isaac were paying attention to her. Isaac slowly sat up, head cocked to one side as both he and Erica trained their attention on something else. Simultaneously, two sets of eyes flashed yellow.

"You've got to be kidding me." Erica spat as Isaac had the audacity to look betrayed. "Allison? You invited over Allison?!"

The front door opened and closed, Allison calling out for her friend. "Stiles?"

"Upstairs." She called out before turning pleading eyes to the two wolves on her bed. "Don't be like that." Stiles jumped to her feet, hands held out in front of her as she pleaded with her friends. Lydia had stopped reading, closing the book and ready to shake some sense into Stiles. Even she knew just how bad the blood was between the Hale pack and the Argents. "I've already talked to Derek, Boyd, and even Peter. All I need is to make sure you can be in the same room as each other."

"For what?!" Erica snarled. "She pumped me and Boyd with arrows and sliced up Isaac pretty good. I don't think there's any going back on that."

The stairs creaked, slow and unsure, and no doubt Allison was hearing all of this. "She was messed up." Stiles made excuses. "Gerard messed with her head. I'm not asking you to befriend her, Erica. All I'm asking is that you be civil. Thanksgiving is coming up and we can't have any growling, snarling, claws, or flashing eyes in front of my Dad."

At the mention of the holiday and John, Erica slumped back into the bed. Isaac's eyes went back to their normal brown though Erica's were still glowing. The bedroom door swung open and Allison stepped in, head bowed. "For what it's worth, I'm sorry." The huntress looked up, locking eyes with Isaac and then Erica. "I was angry. I was grieving. But it didn't give me the right to take it out on any of you." The wolves remained quiet as Allison shuffled into the room, standing against the wall beside the door. "I wanted to make Derek hurt the way he made me hurt but even that.. I just shouldn't have." Her voice wobbled. Erica blinked, her eyes back to normal. "I know I messed up, and my Dad and I are trying to mend things. So yeah."

The room remained silent, Lydia and Stiles smiling at Allison for finally getting that off her chest, and now it was up to Isaac and Erica to do what they wished with the apology. Isaac looked Allison up and down before shrugging on falling on his back and that was enough for Stiles to believe that he would be on his best behavior. Erica took a little longer but when she opened her mouth, Stiles snorted in relief.

"Fine. But you're not allowed on the bed."

Allison grinned a dimpled smile and Stiles happily gave up her spot at the desk to throw herself across Isaac and Erica's legs while Allison took a seat by the laptop. Lydia and Allison made small talk about their plans for Thanksgiving while Isaac, Stiles, and Erica mumbled about all the food they were going to stuff their faces with.

Stiles tells them about the large table her Dad is bringing in for the occasion, and all the furniture rearranging they're going to have to do just to fit everyone but that's it's totally going to be worth it. She tells them that she's on dessert duty, and they all grumble happily at the thought of apple pie while Lydia demands they save her a couple of slices. Stiles then tells Isaac that if he wants, he can leave a pair of sweats in her room for that day because there is no way in hell he's going to be comfortable in jeans after eating so much. Allison and Erica look thoughtful at that but Stiles shrugs their worry off and tells them she has plenty of pajama pants to go around.

Very quickly, the talk shifted from food to boys. Isaac had groaned but Erica easily had him pinned and made him listen to the girly cackles. Boyd and Erica were surprisingly great, the blonde she-wolf pretty sure that they could stick through anything. Lydia and Jackson remained friends, she even going as far as judging Jackson's current interests whenever he talked about them. Allison quietly talked about her and Scott's friendship, and then all eyes turned to Stiles.

"What?" She frowned. "You guys know I'm single. You usually sniff that stuff out."

"Hmm. True." Erica smirked. "But lately, you've been smelling more and more like Derek."

"Shutup."

"I'm not even a wolf and I know there's something there." Lydia piped up.

"No way!" Allison's eyes bulged. "You and Derek?!"

Stiles scowled. "No. They're lying."

"Please." Isaac scoffed. "I'm surprised he hasn't humped your leg yet." Stiles went wide-eyed at Isaac's words before Isaac realized what he said. "Don't tell him I said that!"

"I.. no.. wait,  _what_?!" Stiles stammered. "Humped my leg? He actually likes me like that?"

"Of course." Erica rolled her eyes. "He thinks he's keeping his emotions under lock and key but alpha boss has been slipping up." She grinned wolfishly. "We're really impressed with his restraint."

Lydia didn't bother hiding her amusement and Allison was just plain shocked. Derek wasn't one to show any type of emotion and for him to be sexually interested in someone, especially after a couple of years of knowing him, well it was quite shocking. "You mean to tell me.." Stiles narrowed her eyes on the two wolves. "That Derek and I could have been cuddling and openly affectionate this entire time?"

"You didn't know?!" Isaac laughed.

"Of course I didn't!" Stiles snapped as she scurried to her feet. "You guys.. you two.. I'm not a wolf, you dickwads. I can't believe you didn't tell me sooner." She said as she moved things around on her desk, obviously looking for something. "I mean, I knew there was something.. maybe but I thought it was just because of the girly transformation."

"Uh, sweetie-" Lydia gained Stiles' attention. "-you left your keys on the table downstairs."

Stiles sighed in relief. "Thank you."

The last thing she heard as she trampled down the stairs was, "Be safe! We don't need any puppies running around.", followed by a room of laughter.

Fucking Erica.

* * *

 

Stiles didn't feel like getting a workout or losing her breath over taking the stairs so she pushed aside her fear of that un-godly elevator and rode up to Derek's loft. By the time she was able to throw open the sliding door and march into his place, Derek was hurrying from his room with sleep tousled hair.

"W-what's happened? What's wrong?"

"I just.. do you.. since when..  _fuck_!"

"Stiles?" Derek mumbled. "Calm down. Breathe. Your heart beat is too fast." The two of them met in the middle of the room, Stiles' shoulders slumping when Derek placed his hands there. Stiles closed her eyes, already feeling the heat emanating from Derek's body at his close proximity. "Tell me what happened." He softly demanded.

Stiles opened her mouth to ask only to close it a split second later. Her head fell, chin tucked towards her chest. "Since when?"

"When what?"

"Since when have you liked me?"

"I don't know-"

"Yes, you do." Stiles grumbled. "Your pups ratted you out."

Derek cursed under his breath causing Stiles to chuckle. She felt his hands shift on her shoulders, his thumbs climbing up the side of neck before hooking beneath her jaw and pushing her head up. "We should talk, huh?"

"Sounds like a good idea." She breathed out.

Stiles tried to ignore the way her heart raced but by the slow grin Derek gave her, he wasn't ignoring it. His hands fell away, one hand reaching for her own and enveloping it before tugging her towards the couch. Once settled in, he keeps Stiles a little to his left though he still has ahold of her hand.

"It started the night Jackson trapped us in the pool." Stiles' mouth dropped open but she remained quiet. She knew how Derek wasn't one for words so she'd remain quiet until he got out what he needed. "You weren't part of my pack then, you were Scott's, but it didn't stop you from diving in after me and keeping me afloat for hours. It.. I-" He cleared his throat before starting over. "I didn't know what it was then but after you showed just an ounce of loyalty, I found myself wanting your opinion on a plan or your sarcastic input just so you'd talk to me even if I shut you down."

"Mean." Stiles managed to tease. She froze the second the word left her mouth, afraid that Derek would shut down but she saw how his lips twitched so she took it as a good sign.

"I didn't know you were a girl so when I found myself attracted to a guy, it kind of freaked me out. I never had a crush on a boy before so I thought it was just a fleeting attraction because you showed me and my pack loyalty but-"

"It didn't go away." Stiles cut in.

Derek shook his head. "It didn't." He confirmed. "And then you went to Europe and the distance only made it worse."

"But you were grumpy when I showed up."

"Because I found out you kept in contact with Lydia the entire time and-"

"You were jealous!" Stiles giggled. Derek turned to face her, brows furrowed as he glared. "You were, weren't you! You were jealous because Lydia got all my awesomeness and you missed it."

Derek grumbled and rolled his eyes. "I can't believe I actually like you."

"Neither can I." Stiles beamed. "But you do. You admitted it and now there's no  _mmph-_ "

Stiles froze at having Derek's lips on hers because it totally wasn't what she expected from him. Derek is all stubble, leather, scowls, and angry faces so she expects his roughness to transfer into his kissing but.. it's not. It's all gentle.. and when Derek realizes that Stiles isn't responding, he starts to pull away only for Stiles to realize what he's doing and catches him by the back of neck to keep him there. She gently parts her lips, letting her tongue peek out to swipe at his bottom lip and  _OH MY GOD_ , she can't believe she just initiated the deeper kiss with Derek-freakin'-Hale.

Stiles has to turn so she isn't angled weird and has easier access to Derek's lips but when she turns, Derek somehow pulls her into his lap so she's straddling him now. Her hands fly to the back of his head, fingers threading into his hair as lips mould perfectly together. Stiles grins and nips at Derek's bottom lip but when Derek starts to fight for dominance over the kiss, Stiles can  _feel_ just how much Derek is into her with her newly acquired position on his lap.

She breaks the kiss, panting heavily as she presses their foreheads together. "Wait, wait, wait." She whispers harshly as she tries to gain her breath back. "Too fast. Way to fast."

"What are you talking ab-" Stiles grinds her hips down, smirking triumphantly when Derek's eyes flash red. "Point taken."

"That's what I thought." Stiles smirked before pressing a quick chaste kiss to his lips and sliding off his lip. "And not that I'm super stoked about all that's happened within the last five minutes but can we go to sleep?"

"What?" Derek laughed.

"It's just it seems like I just woke you up when I showed up and I'm kind of mentally exhausted after all the talking at my house, and finding everything out right now. I just.. can we sleep?"

Derek smiled, eyes crinkling at the corners in amusement before nodding. Whatever he was going to say, he didn't, and instead he stood up while dragging Stiles with him. Seconds later, he turned and plopped down to lay down on the sofa, dragging Stiles atop of him and wedging her between him and the back of the sofa. One arm wrapped possessively along her lower back while her head gets tucked right beneath his chin.

"Ah, you're a cuddler." She tiredly smiled. "I totally had a dream about this."

"What?"

"Shh. Just let it happen. Let it happen." Stiles mumbles as they both fall asleep.

Thanksgiving Day has Melissa and Stiles scurrying around the kitchen early in the morning to get everything ready for a Thanksgiving lunch/early dinner. Melissa had even went as far as taking an extra change of clothes so she can get ready at the Stilinski household and Stiles doesn't blame her. They're making quite a lot of food and needed to get started rather early.

John and Scott are relaxing comfortably in the living room, and Stiles has half a mind to throw some type of vegetable at their heads because they have it so easy. An hour into their cooking and Stiles has splattered flour across her forehead, chest, and even some on her back that she has no idea how it got there. Melissa had laughed, called in John, and John snapped a few pictures of the ladies hard at work.

Stiles had managed to make two apple pies, two pecan, and one pumpkin the night before since the oven was going to be very busy with the turkey and other sides.

Melissa had make the cornbread dressing at her home, sticking it in the fridge when she showed up at the Stilinski's to heat up right after the turkey was done. Mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, yams, cranberry sauce, and ham were organized all around the counters in a line so everyone could file in like they were at a buffet before taking a seat at the table.

As the minutes ticked down for the turkey, and before their guests started to show, John sent both girls off to shower and change while he and Scott kept an eye on the remaining cooking food.

When Stiles finally emerges from her bathroom in a peach lace, flowing tank top and cut off jean shorts, she nearly has a heart attack when she finds Scott and Isaac in her room. "Jesus, guys, way to scare the hell out of me." Isaac and Scott both grin as their friend rummages through her drawers for a pair of socks to slip on because there's no way in hell she's wearing shoes in her own home. "When did you get here?" She asks Isaac as she settles in her desk chair.

"A little after you got in the shower." He answers. "Derek and Peter are downstairs."

Stiles freezes. "Downstairs?" Isaac and Scott nod. "Downstairs with my Dad."

Again, Isaac and Scott nod but when they let her words sink in, their grins vanish. "Crap." Both boys groan before all three of them lunge for the door and scamper downstairs.

Stiles doesn't care that they sound like a herd of stampeding elephants because when the three of them slide into the living room, Melissa is hiding a grin behind her hand, John is glaring at an uncomfortable Derek, and Peter looks like Christmas came early.

"H-hey. What's going on?" Stiles tries to smile but it comes off as more of a grimace.

Stiles catches her dad's attention and from her peripheral vision, she can see Derek slump in relief. "Stiles, oh daughter of mine, when exactly were you going to tell me you were dating Derek Hale?"

Both Isaac and Scott sucked in their breath, both wolves slowly backing away from Stiles. Their female friend slightly paled, her heart hammering away as her dad awaited an answer. "I, uh, well.." She stumbled over an answer. "Surprise?" She weakly cheered as she shrugged.

Melissa was shaking with silent laughter and actually had to slap a hand over mouth to keep from laughing out loud. Peter didn't bother hiding his chortles and Derek didn't bother hiding the glare he was shooting at his Uncle. Peter was definitely at fault here.

When Stiles couldn't come up with a better answer, John sighed and shook his head. "Relax, will 'ya? It's not like I can keep you two away seeing as you're legally an adult now. But-" He held up his pointer finger and pointed it at Derek. "-I will say this. It doesn't matter that Stiles is an adult, she's still my baby girl."

Derek nodded. "Yes, 'sir."

"And remember.. I have a gun."

The threat didn't seem to phase Derek as it should have but he still managed to gulp for show. "I understand."

Stiles groaned as Peter cackled rather loudly but the ringing of the doorbell saved Stiles from having her Dad say anything else. John stood to greet his guests and Stiles took the distraction to reach forward and slap Peter upside the head.

Melissa didn't bother hiding her laugh at that. Or Derek's smug expression.

* * *

 

By the time everyone shows up and is seated with a plate of food in front of them, the atmosphere is tense. John sits on one end of the rectangular table, Allison to his left and Scott to his right. Chris sits next to his daughter and Melissa sits next to her son. Stiles sits next to Chris since no-one else wanted that position and Derek sits next to Stiles. Peter takes up the end of the table with Boyd next to him, Erica, and then Isaac closes off the group by sitting between Erica and Melissa.

The rolls and cranberry sauce is being passed around awkwardly before Scott mumbles something about Cowboys and Indians. Allison overhears, asking if he meant Pilgrims and Indians, and when Scott blushes, Stiles bursts out laughing. Allison smiles sheepishly and while Stiles can't stop laughing because everything is just so weird and awkward between everyone- Isaac, Erica, and Boyd are soon laughing as well. Peter is grinning like a loon, though he's always grinning like that now-a-days, but soon Derek is falling into a fit of chuckles all on his own.

The rest of the adults soon follow just because no-one knows why they're laughing in the first place, and just like that, the tension breaks. Food is easily consumed, utensils scraping against the plate as everyone hums or groans their appreciation for the taste of everything.

It isn't until seconds are being passed around that John clears his throat. Stiles has her glass of water to her lips when her Dad singles out Derek and Peter. "Alright, so.. I have a question." Derek and Peter give the Sheriff their full attention. "Between the two of you, who's the alpha?"

Stiles does a spit-take, water spraying all over Erica as forks and spoons clink onto the plates and table. "W-what?!" Stiles coughs and Derek manages to break out of his shock first to thump his girlfriend on the back. Derek and Peter are both saved from saying anything when they see Chris and Melissa sliding money over to a smirking John. "What the hell is going on?!" Stiles nearly screeches when she sees it.

John shrugs. "You guys aren't exactly subtle." He pockets the money. "Melissa needed someone to talk to when it became too much and Chris backed up her stories."

"O-okay." Stiles stutters. "That much I get but what's with the money?"

"The three of us had a bet." John grins at the mention of his winnings. "Chris thought at least one of you would wolf out in surprise, Melissa thought that Scott would attempt to cover up with ridiculous lies, but I had it pegged. You'd be the one to flail and cause a scene."

Stiles gaped at everything going on, the wolves all looking ashamed of themselves and bowing their head at having been caught. Stiles is only aware she's freaking out when she feels a hand clamp down on her knee. "It's fine." Derek murmurs. "At least we don't have to lie anymore." Stiles takes a moment to let it sink it, her Dad having gone back to eating as if no big secret had just been revealed, and wills her heart to stop racing so fast. "And to answer your question, Mr. Stilinski, I'm the alpha."

John eyes him critically before nodding a shoving a piece of turkey in his mouth. "Good." He mumbles before chewing and swallowing. "At least I know now my daughter will be looked after."

Derek breathes a sigh of relief, his pack taking their cues from their alpha and slowly goes back to eating their food.


	5. Chapter 5

**December**

The entire Hale Pack is lazing about Derek's loft, even Peter who's being ignored by the windows with a book settled in his lap, feet kicked up on a table as everyone else piles onto sofas and spare mattresses. Scott and Isaac are trying their best to hurriedly set up a xbox to Derek's TV and Boyd is sandwiched between Lydia and Erica, his body being used as a leg rest and feet warmer.

Derek walks down from the spiral staircase, eyes taking in everyone. "Has anyone heard from Stiles?"

Scott fumbled with the controller he was holding and stumbled over his own foot, eyes wide as he ignored everyone's gaze and busied himself with the gaming console.

Derek eyed the pup suspiciously, seeing as Scott's heartbeat was steadily speeding up under everyone's gaze but before he could question it, Peter spoke up. "She's your girlfriend. Shouldn't you have her on a tight leash?"

Lydia broke her gaze on Scott to glare at Peter, the elder wolf unphased by the redhead unlike many in their pack. He smirked triumphantly at having ruffled up someone's feathers for the day and gladly went back to his book when Derek turned his alpha glare on him. "Scott." Derek barked, eyes still trained on his Uncle before sliding over to the fidgeting wolf. "What do you know?"

"I- I don't know what you're t-talking about. I don't know anything!"

"I'm not even a werewolf-", Lydia scoffed. "-and even I can tell you're lying."

Derek's eyebrows rose, agreeing with his packmate as he crossed his arms over his chest, awaiting an answer. Scott gulped, his guilty expression only becoming more guiltier by the second until he finally caved. "Fine.. but you didn't hear it from me." He sighed. Rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly, he avoided everyone's gaze. "Today is, uh, the anniversary of Mrs. Stilinski's death." Everyone's gaze softened at that, even Peter's smug expression falling at his words. "She usually avoids her phone on this day and wants to be alone."

Derek's jaw unclenched, his arms falling to hang at his sides. "Did she say she wanted to be alone?"

"Well, no." Scott shrugged. "But don't people usually want be left alone on a day like today?"

Majority of the room groaned, the females moving to stand up but Derek halted everyone's movements. "Stay here. I'll go check on her. Leave your phones on." Derek jumped into action, finding his discarded leather jacket and pulling it on.

Erica and Lydia slumped back into the couch as Scott looked around at everyone. "Wait, I don't think-"

"Exactly." Lydia cut him off. "You didn't think, Scott." They all watched as Derek hurriedly left the loft, his footfalls being heard running down the stairs instead of taking the elevator.

"But what-"

"Everyone needs a hug on a day like today."

"Especially today." Erica spoke after Boyd who had cut off Scott. "Derek will handle it, though. He's not the only one out of us, but he can relate to what it's like to lose a Mom."

Erica, Boyd, Lydia, and Scott's gaze slowly traveled to Isaac who feebly grinned at them with a shrug before they all turned to Peter who was frowning down at his book.

* * *

 

Derek pulled up to the Stilinski household in his Camaro- god, when was the last time he drove his baby?- to find that the Sheriff was home as well. He quickly parked his car by the curb, eagerly sliding out and shutting the door as quietly as he could. Walking up to the front door, he prepared himself to be shutout in case Stiles really did want to be left alone.

Hesitantly knocking on the front door, Derek didn't know what to expect.

What he didn't expect was to be hit with so much grief and sadness that it made him take a step back when John opened the door or the hint of alcohol on the Sheriff's breath so early in the afternoon. "Derek?"

"Hey, John." Derek greeted him with his thumbs hooked in his jean pockets. "Is Stiles home?"

John eyed his daughter's boyfriend briefly before nodding and stepping out of the doorway. "She's holed up in her room. I was kind of hoping her friends would've been there for her today."

Derek grimaced. "We didn't know what today was, 'sir, and Scott always thought she wanted to be alone." John nodded. Is was totally like Scott to presume things. "And then when Scott finally told us, I told them to stay back while I came."

John grumbled something that even Derek couldn't make out before his eyes teared up a bit. Derek could smell the salt in his tears and he knew there was nothing he could say to make this day any better for the man, so he settled for a shoulder squeeze when John gestured to the stairs.

John huffed and sniffled, accepting the consoling squeeze from the man he once arrested. As John went back to the living room where he was holed up, Derek climbed the steps towards Stiles' room. He knew what it was like to lose a loved one, how pushing people away was just a front to hide the fact that what you really wanted was to be held and sometimes cuddled.

He gently knocked twice on the door and when he got no response, he pushed the door open. He expected the grief, the sadness, the salt, and the vulnerability but what he didn't expect was the anger emanating from his girlfriend. She was curled on the left side of her bed, comforter securing her body so no air got in, and head cushioned by a fluffy pillow.

When her red-rimmed puffy eyes swiveled to meet his gaze, she sighed. "What are you doing here?"

"It's quite obvious, isn't it?" Derek asked and peeled off his jacket, hanging it on the back of her desk chair which left him in a gray muscle tee and jeans.

"Scott?"

"Scott." He confirmed and kicked off his shoes.

He stood there looking the most vulnerable Stiles had ever seen him and she'll blame it on his look of uncertainty that made her pull back her comforter and gesture to the empty space beside her. The second Derek slid into her bed, Stiles uncurled so Derek could get as close as he wanted. She wasn't disappointed when he practically plastered himself to her chest, pulling her pillow to the side so they could share. His arm laid gently on her waist, legs tangling beneath the blanket as Stiles laid her palm flat against Derek's chest over his heart.

They stayed quiet, neither one willing to break the silence first when Stiles scooted even closer and placed her forehead on his chest to hide her face. Her body suddenly shook with repressed sobs and Derek decided to hug her tightly to him. Stiles' hand fell from his chest, moving to wrap around him and clinging tightly.

Derek decided to let her cry and let her cling in her time of grief. He figured that the anger he smelt when first entering was because she was lonely and expected her friends to show but when the anger didn't diminish, he grew curious.

"I was angry, too, when my family died." He tried. "Hell, I was pissed." He mumbled softly. Stiles' cries started to turn into sniffles but she didn't interrupt him. "I- I knew they were trapped in the house but if Peter had gotten out, why couldn't they? I always thought that they didn't fight hard enough. That they didn't really even try to get out." It became hard to talk around the lump in his throat so he stopped there, swallowing to make it go away.

After a few moments of silence, Stiles finally broke. "How did you get over it?"

Derek cleared his throat. "Time. I want to tell you it'll get better but it doesn't. There's always going to be something that reminds you of her or someone that brings up bittersweet memories of her, but it will get easier as the time passes by."

Stiles sniffled and pulled back a bit but she wouldn't meet his gaze. "I'm not even sure why I'm mad. I just miss her, you know? And I want her back so  _bad-_ " Her voice cracked and she took a second to get back under control. "She missed out on so much and I  _hate_ her for it. She was supposed to be here for all my petty Junior high and High school drama. She was supposed to be here when all this supernatural stuff started happening." Her voice wobbled and tears started to fall but she pushed through. "She was supposed to see my grand make-over and meet my stupidly gorgeous boyfriend, and laugh at the fact that my boyfriend turned out to the the same someone I got arrested because I thought he was a murderer. And it's not fair!" Stiles cried. She put her hand on Derek's chest, ready to push away but Derek clung to her. "It's not fair that she got taken away from me at such a young age. It's not fair that I hate her because when I really think about it, I  _don't_ hate her. The whole situation is just unfair but I'm glad.. I'm really glad that she's not in anymore pain, Derek, but I want her back. I want her back so much.. and I.. I'm probably not even making sense and.. and I.."

"Hey.. hey.. shh!" Derek hushed her when he realized her heartbeat was getting erratic and pulled her back to him, letting her hide in his chest as she sobbed. The last thing he wanted was for her to fly off into a panic attack. "It's fine. It's totally fine to feel the way you do. I get it."

Over Stiles' cries, Derek hears the bedroom door creak open. His eyes flash red for a brief moment before John sticks his head in, the man crying tears of his own as he looks on at the scene in his daughter's room. Derek had been too caught up with Stiles that he hadn't even heard John climb the stairs or when he was standing outside the room. He most likely heard everything.

With a very solemn nod and a very wobbly smile, that came off as more of a grimace, John was very thankful that his daughter had someone to rely on. John backed out of the room, letting Derek comfort Stiles, and went back downstairs.

With Derek's loft miraculously empty for once, Derek and Stiles decided to take advantage of it. The couple wasn't big on public displays of affection though Stiles did have a bit of fun by sneaking in kisses whenever the pack was around to test their tolerance of their relationship. But now- now the Pack was nowhere to be seen and since the sudden storm that was sweeping through California messed up their date plans, Stiles now had a reason to spend the night at Derek's without any of the pack members around.

Derek cooked dinner. A family recipe that he had remembered ingredient for ingredient when he was younger and Stiles didn't complain once because  _hello,_ who was she to deny lasagna that her boyfriend cooked up. They talked and gossiped about their Pack's lives until they finished dinner all together and Derek started to clean up. When Stiles had appeared by his side at the sink to help, he nudged her away with his hip.

"Nope. I got this." He smiled at her. "Why don't you go change and bring up a movie on your laptop? I have a feeling this storm is going to knock out power soon."

Stiles chuckled and attempted to get closer only for him to nudge her away again with a grin. "Fine." She sighed and quickly reached up with her hand, catching him around the neck and bringing him down for a quick kiss. "But you're getting the snacks ready too."

"You just ate." Derek laughed.

"Eh. It's better to have cold popcorn than no popcorn at all."

Derek rolled his eyes before pecking her lips again. "Fine but you better pick a good movie."

"Will do, alpha." Stiles called out as she skipped away to go change into more comfortable clothes.

Minutes later, she reemerged from Derek's room in sleep shorts and a black henley of her own that Scott had gotten her as a joke. Derek was constantly wearing henleys and Scott found it hilarious when he found them in female sizes and bought Stiles some in a variety of colors.

Apparently Derek was taking his sweet time in the kitchen so while he was doing whatever it was he was doing, Stiles flopped down on the couch and pulled her laptop on her lap. The storm was raging outside, thunder rumbling and lightening flashing every couple of seconds, so she was pretty shocked that the power had yet to go out. She quickly browsed Netflix for a movie, skipping over the horror genre because a.) she'd already seen them all and b.) with Derek being a werewolf, no movies were good enough for him.

Settling on the latest Iron Man movie, she set her laptop on the small table in front of the sofa and went to seek out her boyfriend.

Unsurprisingly, he was still in the kitchen. The microwave was popping the white cheddar popcorn that Stiles loved while Derek picked through the cabinets for the pringles and beef jerky he loved.

"You can stop tip-toeing. I know you're behind me." Derek said.

Stiles sighed and fell flat on her feet while pouting. "You're never going to let me sneak up on you, are you?"

"Nope." Derek grinned over his shoulder. "Did you find a movie?"

"Yep." Stiles popped the 'p'. "The newest Iron Man film that I know for a fact you haven't seen."

Derek hummed in acknowledgment as Stiles skipped forward towards him. She wrapped her arms around his waist, pressing her chest to his back and just stood there. When she didn't speak or move when the microwave beeped to signify her popped popcorn, Derek chuckled.

"What are you doing?"

"Feeling up my boyfriend." Stiles mumbled and spread her hands open along his t-shirt covered abs. "Let it happen. Just let it happen."

Feeling Derek shaking with suppressed laughter, Stiles smiles as he turns in her arms. "You're always feeling me up." He grinned down at her as his arms started to snake around to her back before lowering. "Well, fair is fair, right?"

Stiles beamed even brighter when she felt rough hands slide down the curve of her ass, sliding even further as Derek bent over her, his face landing in the curve of her neck as he gripped her by the backs of her thighs and lifted up. Stiles squealed, her hands falling to Derek's shoulders, as he settled her against his stomach, knees on either side of him.

"Why, Mr. Hale, I do believe you're trying to get fresh with me."

"Shutup." Derek laughed before catching Stiles in a kiss.

With lips locked in a chaste kiss, Stiles hummed in contentment. She slightly angled her head for a new position when Derek took the chance to deepen the kiss. Stiles eagerly accepted him, letting Derek lick his way into her mouth and slid her fingers into his hair at the back of his head. Derek nipped at her bottom lip and Stiles retaliated by grasping his hair in one hand and tugging.

Groaning, Derek pulled out of the kiss to look Stiles in the eye, only to find her panting heavily with swollen lips and smirking smugly at him. Letting his eyes flash red for the briefest of moments, he smelled the heavy scent arousal slam into him, and instantly had them turned around so Stiles was sitting atop the counter.

There was a brief pause where the two of them stared at each other before hands were eagerly slipping underneath each other's shirt and yanking up over their heads. Derek was quickly bare chested and drinking in the image of a very aroused Stiles sitting on the counter top in just her shorts and green bra.

Mouths quickly attacked each other before Derek nipped at bottom lip again, slipping down to nip at the curve of her jaw, and finally down to her neck. Stiles gasps, her hips bucking forward as Derek worked on leaving his mark bruised into her skin.

She tilted her head back and to the side, giving Derek all the room he needed as she let her hands roam from his chest and down to his abs before settling on his belt buckle. The second she worked her fingers to finally undo Derek's belt, the mood was shattered.

" _Oh my god!"_

"Oh my god." Stiles groaned and wrapped her arms around Derek to keep him in place when he started to growl. She didn't need him pouncing on one of his betas or moving and giving said beta an eyeful. "Isaac, what the hell are you doing here?!"

"I- I live here!" The pup stammered and averted his gaze from the couple. "What are you.. and on the counter?" He groaned. "Come on guys, we eat in here. Sometimes." There's a brief moment of silence though Stiles can still feel Derek tense in her arms. "Oh man, this is totally gonna scar me for the rest of my life."

"Isaac." Derek growls threateningly. "If you don't leave within the next couple of seconds, I'm going to rip your throat out. With my teeth."

Instead of whimpering away in fear, Isaac snorts and his eyes zero in on the gnarly hickey his alpha just left on Stiles' neck. Stiles caught that his amused expression was directed at her and slammed a hand over her neck. "Dammit, Lahey, go! Shouldn't you have used your nose before walking in? And what the hell are you doing out in this storm?!"

Isaac rolled his eyes but backed up a step or two when Derek managed to turn and face him. "As if I wanna sniff around you two." He grimaced. "The sexual tension is bad enough around here; there's not way I wanna smell  _that._ " Stiles wrinkled her nose at what the wolf was insinuating and pushed Derek away from her to retrieve her shirt. "You know what, I-.. I think I'm just going to spend the night at Scott's. The storm isn't even that bad anyway."

Derek glared the entire time it took for Isaac to disappear and when he could no longer hear his beta, Stiles is already in her shirt with an impish grin. "Sorry, D, maybe next time." She pats him on the chest before collecting her popcorn from the microwave and making her way to the sofa.

Derek sighs in aggravation, picking up his shirt from where Stiles had chucked it and slipped it back on. "Isaac is definitely not my favorite wolf anymore."

On the day of New Year's Eve, Derek finds himself sitting in a wooden lawn chair out front of Scott's home. Melissa, Boyd, and Lydia are sitting with him in a loose circle while John mans the grill and Stiles, Scott, Erica, and Isaac run amok in the streets. Stiles is lighting colorful smoke bombs and launching them down the street towards another group of kids and Derek can't help but smile at the mini war she has started with kids half her age.

This is his first New Years party/get together that he's ever been to, if he's being honest with himself. Being a born-wolf, his senses are much more sharper than that of a bitten wolf so the fireworks usually hurt his hearing and for a majority of his life, he had lived in the woods with his family. Smaller, less noisy fireworks, were banned from him home because those could start fires and that was the last thing they needed. But then came the awful day where a majority of his family burned with his family home, and he and Laura moved to New York. People liked to celebrate over there and have the biggest firework show possible so while that went on, he and Laura took trips a few towns over and secluded themselves from all the noise.

And now, well he couldn't exactly tell Stiles  _no_ especially since his entire pack, sans Peter, was excited when Melissa had invited them over for a bar-b-cue before letting them try and not to injure themselves with fireworks.

"You would think-", John grunted as he came around and took a seat next to Melissa. "-that with age and their werewolf abilities, they'd learn to pick on people their own size."

"Yes, well, at least it's only smoke bombs this time. And they have a different target other than each other."

Derek and Boyd shared amused glances before turning back to the elders of the group. "What happened the last time?" Boyd asked.

Melissa laughed at something John had said before turning to Boyd. "Let's just say that Scott and Stiles are banned from playing with roman candles. They are in no way, shape or form, extreme light sabers." Derek snorted, easily picturing the two of them battling each other with dangerous fireworks, when Melissa's smile faltered. "Oh no, please tell me they didn't buy roman candles?!"

"No, no." Lydia assured her. "There's only smoke bombs to keep them entertained during the day, tons of sparklers for the night, and one giant box that Scott and Isaac are going to light at the end of the block at midnight."

"Why at the end of the block?" John asked.

"Sensitive ears." Derek answered.

"Ahh."

John stood and went to go check on the food again seeing as the hamburgers were almost done. Scott, Stiles, Erica, and Isaac ran into the yard, Scott and Isaac plopping on the ground, Erica in Boyd's lap, and Stiles on the armrest of Derek's chair.

"Finally got tired of terrorizing the neighborhood kids?"

"We are not terrorizing anybody." Stiles grinned down at Derek, leaning into him and laying an arm across his shoulders. "I'm just helping the puppies protect Scotty's turf."

"I am not a puppy." Erica narrowed her eyes at Stiles.

"Fine." Stiles rolled her eyes playfully while grinning at the she-wolf. "The puppies and Catwoman."

Erica's glare softened immensely as she grinned wolfishly at her friend. "Thanks, Batman."

The pack was chuckling at the words being exchanged between the two but Melissa looked on in confusion. "Wait, what? Why are you Batman if you're a girl?"

As one, the pack groaned as if Melissa said something she wasn't supposed to. "Because, Mama McCall-" Stiles huffed. "-I'm just too damn awesome to be categorized in only the female roles. Therefore, Erica is Catwoman and I am Batman."

" _Okaayyy._ " Melissa drawled. "I have a feeling there's a story behind this."

Stiles opened her mouth to answer but Scott cut her off. "There is but if Stiles tells it, we'll be here all night."

Stiles crosses her arms with a pout causing Derek to chuckle and slide her into his lap. "Derek, please don't grope my daughter in front of me."

"What-.. no 'sir, I wouldn't." Derek stammered and tried to push Stiles back onto the armrest when John rejoined the group.

Everyone laughed at their alpha's ability to flush and stutter when it came to John before John told them what they were all waiting for. "Food's done. Have at it."

The pack all scrambled to get their grub on, the story about Batman and Catwoman long forgotten, and a growl rang out to stop the wolves in their scramble to get food. After making sure that John and Melissa got food first, Derek let Stiles and Lydia get their food next before he and the wolves loaded up.

Everyone sat around the kitchen in the McCall household; burgers, chips, dip, and soda being the main meal of the night before they have their fun outside. The food is easily gobbled up, the wolves having a little more than their fair share, but no-one is complaining. With the sun now gone from the sky, the air is a little more chillier so Stiles and Lydia are forced into more warmer clothing.

While Stiles and Lydia go change into pants and whatever jackets or sweaters they have, the rest of the group go outside and settle back into their chairs or get ready to run around again. When Stiles finally emerges outside in jeans and her red wolves hoodie that Boyd had gotten her, Derek shakes his head at her in amusement.

"You wear that more than the leather jacket Isaac and I got you."

"I can't help it if this is more warmer." Stiles snuggled into her hoodie. "And plus, I don't wanna risk burning a hole into my leather jacket." She pouted. "Do you really trust me to not burn a hole in something with so many sparklers?"

"Point taken." Derek hummed.

While Derek, Boyd, Lydia, John, and Melissa settled down into their chairs; Scott and Isaac got around to playing some music outside. Stiles and Erica made a be-line for the bag of sparklers and didn't waste any time in lighting up a few.

While the music played, Erica and Stiles twirled with their sparklers as they sang out whichever song was currently playing in the streets. Boyd, Lydia, Derek, John, and Melissa happily watched on and didn't even bother to warn Scott and Isaac not to throw exploding firecrackers at each other's feet. Derek had a feeling the two wolves traded off some sparklers to the little girl down the street in exchange for the firecrackers she didn't like.

Heart pumping from fooling around, Stiles unzipped her hoodie to get some cool air circulating beneath the fabric.  _Domino_ by  _Jessie J_ suddenly filled the air and Stiles squealed, eyes lighting up in the dark. She had two newly lit sparklers, one in each hand, and started to sway her hips to the music. Catching on, Erica soon joined in with a laugh when Lydia scrambled to her feet and offered the blonde she-wolf two newly lit sparklers as Lydia held two of her own. Melissa was quick to pull out a camera from her jacket pocket.

"I'm feeling sexy and free.." The three girls sang with a laugh. "Like glitter's raining on me." Sparklers went up in the air, the three girls swirling their sparklers overhead as the white hot sparks rained down on them. "You're like a shot of pure gold. I think I'm 'bout to explode."

Lydia and Erica laughed as they danced around each other, Melissa snapping pictures all the while. Stiles caught sight of Derek grinning at her and cat walked her way up to him, hips swaying seductively with sparklers held out on either side of her, as she continued to sing. "I can taste the tension like a cloud of smoke in the air. Now I'm breathing like I'm running 'cause you're taking me there. Don't you know.." She stopped mid-strut to wiggle her hips in a playful manner. "-you spin me out of control."

"Oh god." John groaned as he saw his daughter saunter up to Derek. "I miss my tomboy daughter already."

" _Ooh, ooh, ooh, oohhh!."_  Melissa snickered as Erica and Lydia continued to sing in the streets, Scott and Isaac finally joining in on the fun with sparklers of their own. Boyd just watched on in amusement, not believing that these were his packmates.

"Having fun?" Derek's lips twitched in amusement.

"Loads." Stiles beamed. "Why aren't you dancing with us?"

Derek shrugged. "I like watching you have fun."

Stiles rolled her eyes at his exclamation, letting her sparklers die out before dropping herself sideways into Derek's lap. "Close your eyes." She murmured and wrapped her arms around his neck. Derek did as he was told, closing his eyes as he heard Stiles call out, "Melissa, hurry, take the picture." And seconds later, lips pressed to his stubbled cheek and he couldn't help but smile before the flash even went off.

"Aww." Melissa cooed as she looked at the captured photo on her camera. "I'm definitely making myself a copy of this one." She flipped the camera so Stiles and Derek could see, and Stiles giggled at the outcome.

"I want one, too! And another for Derek because we all know he's too manly to ask for a copy."

"Am not." He grumbled. "Melissa, will you please print me out a copy of that picture." He said just to prove his point.

"Will do, Derek." Melissa laughed at him. "I'm going to print out each person their own set of tonight's pictures." She told him. "There's at least one photo of everyone on here-" She wiggled her camera. "-and a bunch of good ones where the flash didn't mess with anyone's eyes."

Derek smiled up at her gratefully. "Thank you."

* * *

 

The night passed with laughs, John even easing up a bit with all the sneaky kisses and scent marking Derek and Stiles did throughout the night. Since Derek was the only legal one there, besides John and Melissa of course, John handed him a beer and clinked bottle necks with the alpha. There was no harm in the wolf having a beer since it took plenty of the hard stuff to even make a werewolf buzz.

Whenever an upbeat pop song came on, Lydia joined the other two girls in dancing in the streets. Stiles had even wrangled in Isaac to dance with them and Erica wrangled in Scott. Melissa happily snapped away with her camera and the more beers John ingested, he eventually passed Boyd a beer or two since he was sitting with him and Derek.

Midnight was now only minutes away and the entire Pack was getting ready for the show. Isaac and Scott pulled out a rather large box that Melissa was instantly wary of but the boys took off down the street before she could stop them. Derek could see the families around them, in their own lawns, each stand and walk towards the street to look around. Apparently Isaac and Scott caught their attention.

Lydia managed to sandwich herself between John and Melissa, Erica and Boyd stood with their arms wrapped around one another, and Stiles happily pulled Derek along by the hem of his leather jacket.

"I don't think we should have let them go by themselves." Derek mumbled as Stiles led him to the middle of the street.

"Why?" Melissa asked.

Derek, Boyd, and Erica had their hearing trained on the other two wolves at the end of the street. "Because the morons are fighting over who gets to light the fuse." Erica snorts.

Stiles groaned. "Oh my god. Why did we- for the love of-  _WILL ONE OF YOU JUST LIGHT IT ALREADY!_ " She hollered when the town's siren suddenly started to blare to signify the New Year.

Smaller fireworks lit up the entirety of the street, Erica's eyes lighting up at the show in front of her. Scott and Isaac are then spotted running back to them just in time for their big box of explosions to fire off into the sky. With the first big explosion, sparks of blue and purple expand into a gigantic circle before crackling and raining down.

Children and teenagers all along the street are hollering and blowing on their personal horns, all of them making a ruckus and enjoying the night. Erica and Boyd are watching the show, the fireworks that Scott and Isaac lit giving a show for the entire block who are awing and oohing at the spectacular explosions of color. Scott and Isaac have Melissa sandwiched in a hug, pressing kisses to the top of her head and Lydia is hugging John, all of them mumbling  _Happy New Year_  to each other.

Stiles gives Derek just a moment longer to ring in the new year before turning to him and looking up. When she finally catches his attention, he smiles down at her.

"So what do you say to ringing in the new year with a kiss?"

Derek smiles before swooping down to receive his kiss. "You're such a dork."

"Mhm." Stiles hums against his lips. "But you love me."

The responding chuckle she receives is enough for her to understand that he does. Though she and Derek have yet to actually say the words aloud to each other, they're both secure enough in their relationship to know how they feel about each other without having to say it.

Stiles is standing on her tip-toes, arms wrapped around Derek's neck with his hands holding her by her hips as she smashes their lips together. She can feel Derek smiling and laughing into the kiss but she doesn't care as she pecks his lips repeatedly for the hell of it, fireworks exploding over them as they bring in the new year together.

"Happy New Year, Stiles." Derek says when he pulls back, pressing his forehead to hers as he stares down adoringly at her.

"Happy New Year, Derek."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not my best ending to a short fic but here it is. Sorry if it didn't live up to your expectations.
> 
> I usually have another fic planned after I've finished one but since I went on vacation and didn't have time to write, I have nothing planned :( So yes, it will take a while before I post anything new so until then.. talk to me either on twitter or tumblr. This is my [TWITTER](https://twitter.com/melissaWTF) and [TUMBLR](http://melissalzn.tumblr.com/) :)
> 
> Once again, thanks for sticking with me on this. I hope to post something sooner rather than later.


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